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J 



DOCUMENTS 



RELATING TO THE 



NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY 



STATE OF MAINE. 






Ronton : 

BUTTON & WENTWORTH— PRINTERS TO THE STATE, 

Nos. 1 & 4 Exchange Street. 

1828. 



3 



eomtnontotalti^ of M^uu^tf^uutttu< 



In the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and twenty-eight. 



RESOLVE 



For printing the Message and Documents relating 
to the North Eastern Boundary. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Common- 
wealth cause to be printed, the following Documents 
relating to the North Eastern Boundary, viz. 

Letter from the Governor of Massachusetts to 
the Governor of Maine, dated November 13, 1827. 

Letter from the Governor to G. W. Coffin, Esq. 
dated November 16, 1827. 

Answer of Mr. Coffin, dated November 21, 1827. 

The Message of the Governor to the Senate and 
House of Representatives, dated March 1, 1828, 
together with the documents accompanying the 
same. 



Resolved, That the Secretary procure one thou- 
sand copies of said Documents, to be deposited in 
his office. And that he deliver one copy to every 
member of the present Legislature who shall apply 
for it, and dispose of the residue, or any part of 
them in such manner, as the Executive, or the next 
Legislature shall direct. 

In Senate, March 11, 1828. Read and passed, 
sent down for concurrence. 

JOHN MILLS, President. 

In House of Representatives, March 12, 1828. 
Read twice and passed in concurrence. 

WILLIAM C. JARVIS, Speaker. 

March 12th, 1828, 

Approved, LEVI LINCOLN. 

A true Copy, 

Attest, EDWARD D. BANGS, 

Secretary of the Commonwealth. 



Worcester, Mass. November 13, 1827. 

To His Excellency Enoch Lincoln, 

Governor of the State of Maine. 
Sir, 

The interesting relations between this Common- 
wealth and the State of Maine, have never ceased 
to be a subject of deep and earnest regard by the 
Executive of Massachusetts. From the time of my 
induction to office, the unsettled and disturbed ques- 
tion of the North-Eastern Boundary, immediately 
affecting a large amount of common property, and 
made the more important from jurisdictional rights 
involved in its decision, has met a solicitous and 
watchful attention. The general views entertained 
by me on this subject, were early, although briefly, 
expressed, in a communication to the Legislature, 
at the commencement of the January Session, 1826, 
published with the Resolves and forwarded to the 
Executive of Maine, to which I beg leave to refer, 
and the opinions then declared, have frequently 
since, and on all proper occasions, been repeated. 
It has indeed been looked for, that the Government 
of the United States, ahke impressed with the ur- 
gency of establishing their frontier line of National 
Boundary, as sensible to the obligation of vindicat- 
ing the rights of the States particularly interested 
- in the soil and sovereignty of the Territory, would, 
ere this period, have effectually maintained the in- 



6 

tegrity of an actual possession, and removed, by a 
clear and distinct designation of Monuments, all 
cause of challenge and controversy with a foreign 
Government ; and of collisions and violence be- 
tween their respective citizens and subjects. The 
Treaty of Ghent referred this question to a qualified 
arbitrament, not for the surrender or compromise of 
rights, but for the determinatioti of them as they pre- 
existed. Commissioners appointed under that in- 
strument, having failed to agree upon the Bounda- 
ry, the matter was made, as has been understood, 
of paramount attention, with the American Minis- 
ter at the Court of St. James, who, so far as is now 
known, has been alike unsuccessful in procuring a 
recognition of the just demands of the United States 
to the establishment of the Boundary, by the des- 
cription in the Treaty of 1783. In the intermedi- 
ate time, the patience of the Governments and the 
Citizens, both of Massachusetts and Maine, has been 
severely tasked, by the embarrassment created to the 
improvement and disposition of their property in 
the soil, to which are now superadded complaints of 
flagrant acts of injustice and outrage, and violations 
of the personal liberty of American citizens, by Brit- 
ish authority, claiming allegiance from those who 
are purchasers and settlers upon the land under 
grants from the State sovereignties. 

I need not. Sir, labour to assure you of "the sym- 
pathy of Massachusetts in the injuries thus suffered 
more immediately by the People and Government 
of Maine. The citizens of this Commonwealth 



have been too recently and too intimately in con 
nexion and association with their younger Sister, 
to be insensible to any occurrence which may in- 
flict wrongs upon her. But in the present instance, 
a community of interest and joint suffering will re- 
quire and ensure a ready participation in all justifi- 
able and constitutional means to obtain redress, 
and to vindicate the cause of injured individuals, 
and a violated State. 

With these views, I beg to be officially in 
formed of the precise character and extent of the 
recent aggressions which have been committed at 
Madawaska, or elsewhere, within the State of 
Maine, under the pretext of orders from the Pro- 
vincial Government of New Brunswick, and to be 
made acquainted with all other circumstances and 
considerations known to your Excellency, as im- 
portant to a true understanding of the honour and 
interest of the Commonwealth, which, in this com- 
munication, I have the duty and the responsibility to 
represent. 

With sentiments of the highest personal 

regard, and official consideration, most 
faithfully your obedient servant, 

LEVI LINCOLN 



Worcester, November 16, 1827. 

To George W. Coffin, Esq. 

Sir, 

I have seen with feehngs of deep interest and 
soUcitude, unofficial accounts of acts of violence 
and injury by the British Authorities of the Province 
of New^ Brunswick upon the possessions and per- 
sons of American Citizens, who are purchasers and 
settlers upon lands under grants from this Common- 
wealth and the State of Maine. The precise char- 
acter and extent of these aggressions it is my duty 
to endeavour to learn. They concern the honor 
and faith of the State, and may impose an obliga- 
tion of appeal to the interposition of the Nation. 
I have addressed a communication to the Governor 
of Maine requesting to be particularly informed on 
the subject, and while I wait his reply, I shall be 
obliged by such intelligence from you, as your agen- 
cy in the management of the public lands, and your 
knowledge of the condition of the inhabitants of 
the Territory, where the controversy exists, may 
enable you to furnish. 

Indeed I shall receive with great regard any in- 
formation which you may afford in relation to the 
interests of the Commonwealth in the State of 

Maine. 

1 am sir, with great respect, 

your obedient servant, 

LEVI LINCOLN. 



9 



Land Office, Bo<Jon, November 21, 1827. 

May it please Your Excellency. 

I have received your esteemed favour of the 16th 
instant, requesting information in relation to the ag- 
gressions on the frontier of Maine, &c. — Before I 
proceed to answer the immediate and particular en- 
quiry, I will preface a few general remarks. The 
French settlers at Madawaska, are many of them 
the descendants of the neutral French, that were 
formerly settled at Kennibacasius near the City of 
St. John's, and about the year '65 were driven from 
thence into the interior ; they then fixed themselves 
at what is now called Madawaska, being an extent 
of territory bordering upon St. John's river about 
50 miles. These people by marriage with the Ca- 
nadian French, together with emigration from Ca- 
nada, are now hardly distinguishable from the 
French citizens of Canada, using the same Creole 
language. — They remained in that wilderness for a 
number of years, without being noticed by the Pro- 
vinces, and to the citizens of Maine were entirely 
unknown. The first authority exercised over them 
by the British, commenced about 12 or 15 years 
ago, when a hard contested election was expected, 
for a member of the Assembly for the County of 
York, to answer some political purposes, the Mada- 
waskans were called upon to give in their votes, and 

from that time, they have been permitted, or refused 

9. 



10 

the right of voting, as suited the views of interest- 
ed persons. Since the dispute relative to the boun- 
dary line, which commenced about the time an at- 
tempt was made to adjust it,, under the provisions 
of the Treaty of Ghent, the British have pursued a 
more direct course of jurisdiction. Peter Fraser, 
Major of the 4th Battallion of the York County Mi- 
litia, thought it a good measure to have the French- 
men enrolled, and they have for some 4 or 5 years 
been made to do military duty, but never have been 
entrusted with arms. They have also, when small 
demands have been brought against them, whether 
just or not, been under the necessity of paying, or 
be subjected to a journey of 150 or 200 miles to 
Frederickton to make their defence, a grievance 
which they complain of very much. Within 10 or 
12 years, several families have moved to Madawas- 
ka from Kennebeck, and others from New Bruns- 
wick. Pursuant to the resolves of 11th June 1825, 
the land agents for Massachusetts and Maine, sur- 
veyed to John Baker and made and executed a deed 
by metes and bounds, of 100 acres of land, and 
another lot of same contents to James Bacon. Said 
Baker has on his lot a saw and grist mill, dwelling 
house, &c. very pleasantly situated at the conflu- 
ence of a river (called Maryumticook) with St. 
John's river, about 10 miles above the mouth of Mad- 
awaska River; 12 or 15 miles higher up, on the 
south side. Fish River empties into the St. John's. 
At this place is a large double saw mill, erected by 
Wilmot and Peters of Frederickton, which is sup- 



11 

plied from the forest surrounding it. When I was 
at St. John's two years ago, I was informed, that in 
consequence of the remonstrance made to the Brit- 
ish Minister at Washington, by our Government, 
against the practice of granting permits for cutting 
timber from the public lands, a messenger from Eng- 
land had been sent to St. John's, who passed up to 
the head of the river, and on his return, declared 
the Americans to be right, in the construction of 
the treaty relative to the boundary line, and order- 
ed a stop to be put to granting permits, and all 
those issued for the Winter of 1825-6 were recal- 
led. I was much gratified at hearing this, and be- 
lieving at that time an adjustment might take place, 
thought it best to proceed no further in making 
deeds. The excitement has progressed with the 
people on the frontiers regularly to the present time, 
and I believe the personal interest of Major Fraser 
(who has several farms on the banks of the river, 
within the disputed territory, and is a member of 
the Province Assembly,) as also of said Wilmot and 
Peters, have prevented by their influence, an hon- 
ourable adjustment, and kept the people in a fer- 
ment. 

I was at Passadunky on Penobscot River, about 
the middle of last month, when the mail carrier from 
Houlton to Bangor, came through ; from him I ob- 
tained the following story, which he said was the 
rumor at Houlton, viz. " That said Baker some- 
time the past season, sent some lumber down St. 
John's river, as usual to market, which was seized 



12 - # 

at Frederickton, (whether for a violation of the rev- 
enue law, or for cutting from the Crown lands, was 
not stated) this irritated Baker very much ; soon af- 
ter the carrier of the Province Mail (which is car- 
ried in a boat,) was passing by said Baker's resi- 
dence, was hailed by him to know what boat that 
was, and was answered the Province Mail, to which 
Baker said, you may pass on now, but shall not 
pass many times more ; this conversation was re- 
ported down river, a Deputy Sheriff with an armed 
posse were proceeding up river to take Baker ; the 
Attorney General hearing of it, sent a dispatch af- 
ter them, with orders not to go armed, but proceed 
without ; they went to Baker's House, and took 
him out of his bed and carried him to Frederick- 
ton ; about the same time, a person residing on the 
Aroostook River, had a writ served on him for debt ; 
the Ofiicer to satisfy the demand, took possession 
of a cow, which was resciited by the settlers gen- 
erally ; they rallied and rescued the cow from the 
Officer ; and destroyed the writ. Although the 
Aroostook settlement is 50 or 60 miles from Bakers, 
yet this transaction is made a part of the charge 
against him, viz. " Attempt at stopping the Mail, 
and exciting the people to rebellion against the 
Government." 

This is the purport of the story ; how far it is true, 
or otherwise, I cannot say ; .at any rate the fact of 
Baker's being taken out of his own house, built on 
land for which he has received a deed from the two 
States, is undoubtedly true, and under a charge of 



13 

some crime, for which he has since been tried, con- 
victed, and fined £150, and sentenced to six months 
imprisonment. The Executive of Maine has writ- 
ten to the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, 
to know under what authority, or pretence, this sei- 
zure of a citizen of Maine has been made, and has 
also clothed Mr. Charles S. Davies of Portland, 
with authority to enquire into all the circumstances. 
Your Excellency will undoubtedly soon have offi- 
cial information, touching the whole subject. My 
private opinion has been, and now is, that the dis- 
pute regarding the boundary line, will have to be 
finally settled by some foreign umpirage, conforma- 
bly to the provisions contained in the Treaty of 
Ghent; if so, the sooner it is done the better, other- 
wise I fear the irritation of the people on the fron- 
tier, will result in unpleasant consequences. The 
settlers or squatters on the Aroostook River have al- 
ready left their settlements for fear of difficulty. In 
regard to the other parts of Maine, where this Com- 
monwealth have an interest, nothing of moment has 
occurred, since I last had the pleasure of addressing 
you, except that a quietus has been effected in the 
conduct of trespassers on the Penobscot, and all 
the suits in law have been favourably adjudged. A 
further survey and division has been made, embra- 
cing the lands around Moose-head Lake, the par- 
ticulars of which, you will soon be made acquainted 
'^ vith by the Hon. Commissioners. Some of the lands 
now divided, I apprehend are valuable, on account 
of the timber, as applications to purchase arc daily 



14 

sent in. Where pine timber abounds, I have no hes- 
itation in saying, the interest of the Commonwealth 
will be promoted, by either selling the land, or the 
growth. I think the latter will yield the largest sum 
in the end, but if neither be sold, the value of the 
pine timber will be lost. 

I am with great respect, your 

devoted and very humble servant, 
(signed) 

GEORGE W. COFFIN, Land Agent. 



MESSAGE. 



Gentlemen of the Senate, and 

House of Representatives, 

The Secretary is charged with laying before 
you a Pamphlet, recently forwarded to me by His 
Excellency the Governor of the State of Maine, 
containing copies of interesting Documents in re- 
lation to the subject of the North Eastern Boun- 
dary. 

LEVI LINCOLN. 

Council Chamber, March \st, 1828. 



state of M^int. 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 

Portland, Feb. 18, 1828. 

Sir, 
The accompanying Documents are transmitted 
in compliance with the provisions of a Resolve of 
the Legislature of this State. 

I have the honour to be. 
Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

ENOCH LINCOLN. 

His Ezcellcncij, 

The Governor of the Slate of Massachusetts, 

Boston. 



REPORT 



JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE 



OF THE 



Senate antr ^oum of Mtpvtmnt^tii}tUf 



OF THE 



STATE OF MAINE, 

JN RELATION TO THE 

NORTH EASTERN BOUNDARY 

OF THE STATE. 



PORTLAND : 

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE LEGISLATVBI!. 

1828. 



STATE OF MAINE. 



In Senate, Jan. 4, 182S, 
Ordered, — That so much of the Communication ir.ade by 
the Governor to the Legislature, with the accompanying docu- 
ments as relates to the North-Eastern Boundary of this State be 
referred to 

Messrs. Megquier, 

Williams, and 
Hathaway, 

With such of the House as may join, and that the Committee 
be authorized to cause such of the accompanying documents to 
be published, as in their opinion the public good requires. 
Read and passed. 

Sent down for concurrence, 

ROBERT P. D[]^hAV, President. 



House of Representatives f Jan. 5. 1828. 
Read and concurred, and 

Messrs. Deane, of Ellsworth, 
Fuller, of Augusta, 
Vance, of Baring, 
Carpenter, of Howland, 
BuRNHAM, of Unity, 

Were joined. 

JOHN RUGGLES, SpeaJcer. 



REPORT. 



The aforesaid Joint Select Committee of the 
Senate and House of Representatives of the State 
of Maine, have considered the whole subject sub- 
mitted to them by the aforesaid Order, to wit : All 
the Governor's Message which relates to the North- 
Eastern Boundary, which is as follows, to wit : — 
*' In the number of our resources is one so con- 
spicuous, that it must early attract your notice. It 
is that of a wild and fertile territory, embracing 
about six millions of acres. It is not necessary 
now to attempt to show how evidently it is subject 
to your jurisdiction, nor to speak of its distinguished 
natural advantages, which impart to it the capacity 
of sustaining some hundred thousand yeomen. 
Valuable, or rather invaluable, as it is, we ought 
without hesitation to surrender it if we cannot with 
justice support that claim to it which unfortunately 
now stands opposed under the difficulty of an inge- 
nuity which has endeavored to obscure the line, 
and an opposition, which, 1 trust, you will dispas- 
sionately authorize to be resisted under the limita- 



20 

tations of a cautious and prudent, yet decided 
policy. 

" The Government of the State, with the exem- 
plary moderation always creditable and necessary, 
has for years refrained from the exercise of many 
of its rights. It has been induced to do so, as may 
be inferred, from its anxious desire to accommo- 
date to the wishes of the federal administration, and 
its disposition to avoid collisions, inevitably un- 
fortunate, in any result. At the same time, it can- 
not abandon its obligations, its title deeds, and its 
rights. It cannot allow the citizens to be incarce- 
rated in foreign gaols. The State would shrink 
most dreadfully under the shame of such a submis- 
sion. For the sake of being fully informed, it has 
for several years solicited the documents possessed 
by the general government in relation to this sub- 
ject. It is with great confidence that I urge its 
consideration now, inasmuch as all that has been 
requested has been supplied agreeably to what was 
understood to be the wish of the last Legislature. 
That invaluable mass of documents, now in the 
Secretary's Office, and the copies of communica- 
tions between myself and others contain nearly all 
that I can oQm: The delicate nature of the sub- 
ject induces me to ask a particular examination in 
reference to publication, if that shall be proposed, 
yet, there is no wish on my part that what has been 
written by myself shall be disposed of in one way 
in preference to the other. On the most thought- 
ful revisal, T find no past deviations from my ex- 



• 21 

isting sentiments, and am bound to sustain the most 
rigorous responsibility. 

" Amidst the views urged, has been a primary 
one of that nature, requiring its being submitted 
to you for correction, if desired. It is in relation 
to the undefined and perhaps undefinable line of 
rights between States' and United States' authori- 
ty, along which construction is constantly urging 
disputed claims, and, in general, has much the ad- 
vantage in irruptions upon the States. The Ex- 
ecutive of the Union has been considered as dis- 
posed to submit the question of the boundary of 
Maine, with a perfectly friendly intent, but with- 
out regarding her as a party, to the umpirage of a 
foreign authority. The submission itself admits 
the possibility of an unjust and disastrous decis' 
ion. While it is not presumed to cast a shadow 
of suspicion on the integrity with which that au- 
thority may be exercised, nor upon the motives of 
any person whomsoever, it has, nevertheless, been 
deemed a suitable precaution to urge the following 
propositions. It cannot be arrogance which as- 
serts them as materials of a monument of the rights 
of our employers, which will become firm by time, 
when properly combined and cemented by your re- 
flections. If any feeling has been displayed on 
my part, it has been indulged with a view of eli- 
citing results which it was believed would be sal- 
utary and acceptable. At the same time there 
has been no intention to abandon those prudential 
considerations entirely consistent with a free as- 



sertion of what it might be supposed the people, 
through their Representatives, would eventually ap- 
prove and sustain. 

"At the period of forming the treaty of 1783, 
Massachus:etts and the other Colonies were inde- 
pendent of each other, as to territorial rights. 
The United States, as such, did not exist. 

"Although the colonies constituted common 
agents to form that treaty, the territorial rights se- 
cured, did not, by virtue of that instrument, accrue 
to the nation, but were merely acknowledged and 
confirmed by it to the existing individual corpora- 
tions, according to pre-existing grants, crown lands 
only being excepted. 

"When the Union of the States was framed, in 
that happy arrangement we are still permitted to 
witness, and which created a general guardianship, 
without extinguishing a particular independence, 
the compact left Massachusetts the Proprietor, as 
one party, in severalty of all her soil. She held it 
fully with undiminished interest, and has conceded 
her jurisdictional control only by that magnani- 
mous act, usually called the Separation, which re- 
ceived validity from the concurrence of Congress. 

"The Union having no right to cede the terri- 
tory, the treaty making power, as only a constitu- 
ent part, cannot exercise a function beyond the 
grasp of the delegated power over the whole, nor, 
mdirectly, by an umpire, do what it could not ac- 
complish without ; that is, consent to the alienation, 
or the possibility of an alienation of territory, which 



Zli 



I will show is solemnly acknowledged through the 
President, to be ours. 

" It has, therefore, been believed to be due this 
State to advance the doctrine that the submission 
of its boundary, to an umpire, unknown to herself, 
und upon terms not confided to her consideration, 
will leave her at liberty to act upon the result as 
to the country and herself may be dictated by the 
most just and patriotic inclinations. Yet if it be 
true that the fifth article of the Treaty of Ghent 
has involved much of federal authority, beyond the 
limits which many eminent statesmen have con- 
tended to be the true ones, as the treaty exists, the 
delicacy of the case, in relation to public faith, ought 
to have some influence upon our assertion of our 
claim, although an entire concession cannot be ex- 
pected. It ought to be distinctly understood that 
there is a perfect harmony of sentiment with the 
federal administration in a most essential particu- 
lar, in regard to which the language of Mr. Clay, 
the Secretary of State, is calculated to be highly 
satisfactory. It is as follows : The Govenwient of 
the United States is fully convinced that the right to 
the territory is ivith us and not with Great Britain. 
The convictions of Maine are not stronger in respect 
to the validity of our title, than are those which are 
entertained by the President.^^ 

" Whatever may be the character of the proposed 
umpirage, it seems necessary to adopt some rule of 
procedure as to the duties to be discharged before 
its results shall be known, and I cannot but hope 



24 

to learn from you, in some way, what measures you 
will consider to be proper, if such acts as that of 
the arrest and incarceration of Baker shall be re- 
peated. There will be no wish to go beyond your 
direction, nor to fall short of it; and, thus far, 
while the object has been to give no assent to injus- 
tice, there has been a steady view to your contem- 
plated consuhations and probable commands. It 
was an arrest which the testimony seems to me to 
condemn ; yet it cannot but be hoped that the 
neighbouring government will place right the hasty 
acts of unthinking agents, and that we, expecting 
that generous conduct which springs from the cha- 
racter of an Enghshman, should not suddenly and 
unnecessarily engage with him in contentions. 
While we were acquiescing in the abeyance of our 
rights, as connected only with property, the call 
for interposition was not imperative, but when un- 
authorized power was applied to the persons of our 
citizens along the Aroostook and in other places, 
it seemed proper to ascertain the facts, in order to 
submit them to your consideration and to that of 
Massachusetts and the nation, both of which will 
feel an interest, not only in the protection of our 
fellow citizens in Maine, but in the other relations 
of the subject. A letter was, therefore, sent to the 
Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, contain- 
ing a request that he would cause information of 
the facts relating to the arrest of Baker, to be re- 
turned. While in his reply he acknowledged in 
favourable terms, the amicable disposition professed 



25 

by this government, so far as, on the occasion, it 
was represented, he decUned to make the explana- 
tions requested, excepting to those with whom he 
is directed to correspond, or under whose orders 
he is placed. 

" It must be known to you that in addition to the 
means above mentioned Mr. Daveis was^ppointed 
to obtain the information which all have appeared 
to consider desirable. From what has transpired 
there is no doubt in my mind of the intention of 
the government of New Brunswick ito extend its 
jurisdiction and to confirm it, if possible, over the 
whole disputed territory. 

" I cannot but profess to you the disposition on 
my own part, subject to your direction, to offer 
some difficulties against such a course ; but it is 
not to be doubted, that the United States' govern- 
ment and that of Great Britain, will perceive, on 
being furnished the facts, that the government 
of New Brunswick has advanced beyond the hne 
of tenable ground, and seems not to have listened 
to those recommendations of mutual forbearance, 
which have been rung so loud that we did not no- 
tice its invasions. 

" Another of the objects of the mission of Mr. 
Daveis was to obtain the release of Mr. Baker, 
whose arrest was thought to be not only cogniza- 
ble by the United States, but by the particular 
State of which he is a citizen. His confinement 
in the goal at Frederickton was an act of power, 
which, considering the nature of the facts as far as 
4 



26 

developed, required early attention, and the course 
pursued was accordingly adopted, not, however, 
without a careful examination of principles and 
precedents. If you shall think the measure as in- 
volving any excess, in the exertion of State power, 
it would seem to be desirable not to allow it to pass 
without the expression of your dissent, which vi'ould 
be received, on my part, with the utmost respect 
and deference. 

" The Minister Plenipotentiary, of his Britannic 
Majesty has communicated to Mr. Clay, what are 
called by the former ' sufficient proofs of the decid- 
ed resolution of his Majesty's Lieutenant Governor 
of New Brunswick to maintain the disputed terri- 
tory in the same state in which his Excellency re- 
ceived it after the conclusion of the treaty of 
Ghent. It certainly would not be desirable to put 
his Majesty's Lieutenant Governor's decided reso- 
lution to the test on this point, but it may be im- 
peratively required to determine how far the treaty 
of Ghent and previous actual jurisdiction may 
sanction his authoritative approaches beyond the 
terms of that treaty, without a reasonable expostu- 
lation, not however to be followed by any unneces- 
sary resort to forcible resistance. 

" It is not to be anticipated that the deplorable 
event of a war with Great Britain may not occur 
again. If that melancholy result of human frailty 
shall be produced, the situation of Maine will re- 
quire great resolution and activity. The concen- 
tration of the British forces with the view of divid- 



27 

ing the Union, by an occupation of New York, will 
not be attempted again, but the seaboprd and the 
interior frontier of Maine will be tbe one a line of 
maratime invasion, and the other of excursions and 
incursions according to the emergencies relating to 
our defence. The effort will be probably to cut 
off this State, or at least for this we ought to be 
prepared, so as not to admit any repetition here of 
such scenes as occurred during the last war. It 
would appear to be proper to sohcit of the general 
government the erection of some strong fortresses on 
our interior frontier. Its own disposition and the 
obvious utility of works so situated, in anticipation 
of Others where the country is better guarded, would, 
it may be hoped, assure to a representation of this 
nature, a favourable reception." 

The Committee aforesaid ask leave to observe, 
they are unable to perceive, that there is any thing 
uncertain in our claim, arising out of any obscurity 
in the treaty of 1783, or any of the documentary 
evidence, or arguments and discussions which led 
to the description of the boundary therein contain- 
ed ; nor are they informed that the government of 
Great Britain, or any of their negotiators ever 
claimed the northern part of this State as a right, 
but requested it as a cession ; it is therefore con- 
cluded, that their stt-ong and persevering endea- 
vours to excite doubts, and embarrass the subject, 
are elicited by the zeal of their essayists, and their 
subordinate agents, or negotiators, who, while 
they recommend themselves to the mother go- 



28 

vernment, as zealous, loyal subjects, and faithful 
agents, are disposed at the same time to gratify 
other feelings, arising from other causes. 

This subject has on several occasions occupied 
the attention of the government of this State, and 
has been the subject of reports, and resolves, and 
all may have been done which the state of know- 
ledge on that subject rendered proper, or the occasion 
required. The subject is now, from a variety of 
considerations, assuming a more interesting cha- 
racter. Such is the state of public inquiry, that it 
may be expected of this Legislature, that they will 
fairly and candidly spread the evidence of title, 
and the subject of controversy, before the people, 
to the end that they may see, examine, and reason 
for themselves, and form their own conclusions. 
This, however, would be deemed unnecessary, 
were it not the fact, that what is said, and much of 
the documentary evidence touching the boundaries _ 
of the provinces, prior to the treaty of 1783, is in 
the hands, and within the reach of very few. 

"With a view therefore of spreading the evidence 
of our title fairly before the people of this State, 
and by the same means, before the people of the 
United States and the world ; it is proposed, to 
pursue generally the cronological order of events, 
noticing particularly, such as nave any direct rela- 
tion to the subject, and incidentally, such as tend 
chiefly to show the connection between them. 

The discovery of America produced an excite- 
ment, and a spirit of maratime enterprize among 



29 

the nations of Europe. — Cabot sailed in 1497 under 
the orders of Henry VII. of England, and discover- 
ed Newfoundland, and North America, and coasted 
from Labrador to Florida. The spirit of discovery 
thus early excited in England, subsided, and was 
not revived for many years. The French prose- 
cuted voyages of discovery to North America, and 
as early as 1535 attempted a settlement on the St. 
Lawrence. From this period the voyages of the 
Europeans to the Northern parts of North America, 
were principally confined to the fisheries, and to 
the prosecution of a trade in furs, with the Na- 
tives, and it was not until 1604, that any settle- 
ment was commenced which became permanent. 

In 1603, Henry Fourth of France, granted to De 
Monts, all the Country in North America between 
the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees of North Lati- 
tude, by the name of Acadie. De Monts, to se- 
cure to himself the benefits of his Grant, with 
Champlain and other adventurers, fitted out ves- 
sels and sailed for America ; they first touched on 
the eastern coast of the grant — then sailed round 
Cape Sable to the bay of Fundy, touched at Port 
Royal, now Annapolis, at the St. John, which river 
they sailed up some distance, and thence followed 
the coast to the mouth of a river, which they af- 
terwards called St. Croix, where upon a small 
island they erected houses and defences, and es- 
tablished themselves for the winter. In the spring 
they, for some cause determined on quitting the 
island, and took what they could of the materials 



30 

of the buildings, and moved, and established them- 
selves at Port Royal, where they lived and prose- 
cuted the business of their settlement for several 
years. 

In 1607 the British commenced a settlement in 
Virginia, which became permanent. As early as 
1613, for the purpose of getting rid of their neigh- 
bours, who might at some future period annoy 
them, as well as for asserting their claim to the 
whole country, and appropriating it to themselves 
or the British government, they fitted out a small 
expedition under Sir Samuel Argall to dislodge the 
French in Acadie. Sir Samuel dislodged the 
French at Mount Desert, destroyed all which De 
Monts had left on the Island where he first winter- 
ed, and captured the French at Port Royal. Some 
of the French went to Canada, and some united 
with the natives. The expedition was attended 
with no important result, further, than it probably 
suggested to Sir William Alexander, the idea of 
obtaining a grant of the Country — and therefore 
after companies had in England, obtained grants 
of various parts of North America, to which they 
gave their favourite names, such as Virginia and 
New England, he obtained a grant, which, from 
its relative situation to New England, or to per- 
petuate the name of his native country, he called 
Nova Scotia.* 

The grant was made in 1621 by James I. and 

* See Appendix. 



31 

contained " all the lands of the continent from 
Cape Sable, thence along the coast of St. Mary's 
Bay, thence across the bay of Fundy to the river 
St. Croix, to its remotest spring head, thence by 
an imaginary line northward to the river St. Law- 
rence, thence by the shores of the river to the 
haven* or shore commonly called Gaspe, and thence 
southward, &c. Sir William seems to have engaged 
with some zeal, and incurred great expense in fit- 
ting out two vessels to take posscission of and set- 
tle his grant ; but all his efforts produced little or 
no effect, and he abandoned it, and in 1630, sold 
a part, or all of his grant to La Tour, a subject of 
France. In the year 1628 or 9, Canada and Aca- 
die were both captured by the British, and were 
restored in 1632 by the treaty of St. Germains. 
In 1652, the British fitted out an expedition and 
took possession of Penobscot, St. John, Port Roy- 
al, and several other places. In 1655 a treaty of 
commerce was entered into between the French 
and British, and the question of title to Acadie 
was referred to Commissioners. 

*In 1663, Charles II. granted to his brother the 
Duke of York, the country called the Duke of 
York's territory, next adjoining New Scotland, and 
extending from the river St. Croix to Pemaquid, 
and up the river thereof to the furthest head of 
the same as it tendeth northward ; and extending 

* See Appendix. * Appendix 2. 



32 

thence to the river Kimhequin, and upwards by the 
shortest course to the river of Canada northward. 

In 1667, by the treaty of Breda, Acadie was again 
restored to France. In 1689, another war broke 
out, and the following year Sir William Phipps 
conquered Port Royal, and other French ports in 
Acadie. 

*Oct. 7, 1691, by the charter of William and 
Mary, the real Province of Massachusetts Bay was 
erected, consisting of the former provinces of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, New Plymouth, Nova Scotia, Dis- 
trict of Maine, and all the territory between Nova 
Scotia and the District of Maine and the river 
Sagadahock, and every part thereof, and the St. 
Lawrence or great river of Canada. It will at 
once be perceived, that the province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay was in the northern part, bounded 
west by a line drawn north from the westernmost 
head of the waters of the Sagadahock, to the river 
St. Lawrence, north by the river St. Lawrence, 
east and south by the Atlantic Ocean. The char- 
ter contained a limitation in the exercise of the 
granting power, as to all the tract of country lying 
beyond the Sagadahock, but it contained no other 
limitations to its exercise of sovereign power, which 
were not contained in all other charters granting 
powers of or establishing governments. Massa- 
chusetts exercised some acts of jurisdiction over 
Nova Scotia, appoined some civil and other of- 

* Appendix 3. 



33 

ficers, but it being so distant, and she having so 
many other posts, and such extent of other fron- 
tier to defend, and the expense being so great, 
which she must incur for her protection against 
the assauhs of the French and natives, that she 
was not sohcitous to retain it, and in the course of 
a few years gave it up, and the British Government 
made it a separate province. 

In 1697, by the treaty of Ryswick, Acadie was 
again restored to the French. In 1702, war was 
again declared between France and Great Britain, 
and Acadie in the course of the war was again 
captured by the British, and was, in 1713, by the 
treaty of Utrecht, ceded by the French to the 
British by the description of Nova Scotia, other- 
wise called Acadie, according to its ancient lim- 
its, with some reservations of islands, such as Cape 
Breton and the islands in the St. Lawrence which 
were not ceded. For many years Nova Scotia or 
Acadie thus ceded, seems not to have engaged 
much of the attention of the British Government. 
They did in 1719, appoint Richard Phillips gov- 
ernor,*^ who, for want of subjects, had to select his 
council from his garrison. The French inhabitants 
lived in a state of independence, without acknow- 
ledging the right or .authority of the British colo- 
nial government ; and the object of the British 
seems to have been to keep possession of the 
country, to the end, that they might hold it, and 

* Appendix 4. 



34 

extinguish the claim of France. By the treaty of 
Aix la Chapelle in 1745, commissioners were pro- 
vided to be appointed, to settle the boundaries of 
Nova Scotia or Acadie, as ceded by the treaty of 
Utrecht, about the Umits of which, the British 
and French could not agree. Col. Cornwallis was 
made Governor of Nova Scotia or Acadie* in 
1749, and came with soldiers of the late army and 
others, between three and four thousand, and set- 
tled and built the town of Halifax. 

Commissioners provided to be appointed by the 
treaty of Aix la Chapelle were appointed in 1750, 
and began and continued their discussions for 
some years, the British contending for, and endea- 
vouring to maintain one construction of the treaty 
of Utrecht, and the French another construction. 
The discussions were broken off by the war of 
1756. The treaty of Paris, of February 10, 1763, 
which terminated the war of 1756, ceded both 
Canada and Nova Scotia to the British in full so- 
vereignty. At this time the power of the French 
became extinct, and they never made any subse- 
quent effort to regain it. Until this period, al- 
though with the British, Nova Scotia had been the 
subject of grants, of conquests, and cessions, they 
always recognised the St. Lawrence as its northern 
boundary, never extending their claim beyond, or 
stopping short of it. When Canada became a 
territory of Great Britain, it became necessary for 

* Appendix 5. 



35 

her to establish a government for it, and the King, 
for that purpose, by his Proclamation of the 7th of 
October, 1763, among other governments, establish- 
ed the government of Quebec,* bounded as fol- 
lows : "on the Labrador coast by the river St. 
John, and from thence, by a line drawn from the 
head of that river, through the lake St. John, to 
the south end of Lake Nipissim, from whence the 
said line, crossing the river St. Lawrence, and the 
lake Champlain, in 45 degrees of north latitude, 
passes alo7ig the high lands which divide the rivers 
that empty themselves into the said river St. Law- 
rence from those which fall into the sea, and also 
along the north coast of the bay des Chaleurs, and 
the coast of the gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape 
Rosiers, and from thence crossing the mouth of 
the river St. Lawrence, by the west end of the 
island Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid river 
St. John."t 

From this description it is evident, that it was 
the intention of the crown, in establishing the 
Province of Quebec, to embrace within its terri- 
tory, after passing Lake Champlain, the sources 
of all the streams which flowed into the St. 
Lawrence, and for that purpose, the most fit and 
appropriate words are adopted. It cannot be sup- 
posed that it was intended by this description, that 
the hne, as it run eastward from lake Champlain, 
was to pursue a range of mountains, or to run 

* Appendix 6. t Appendix 6. 



36 

from peak to peak of the highest mountains, be- 
tween the river St. Lawrence on the one hand, 
and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. The Une 
was the high lands. What high lands ? The high 
lands which divide the waters ; any land therefore 
of any elevation, whether plains or mountains, hills 
or dales, which are at the sources of the respec- 
tive rivers, flowing into the St. Lawrence and the 
sea, are the high lands by the proclamation in- 
tended, and the most apt words are used to de- 
scribe them. This line leaves all the waters of 
the Connecticut, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Penob- 
scot, St. John and Ristigouche, falling into the sea 
on one hand, and the streams flowing into the 
lake Memphremagog, and through it into the 
river St. Lawrence, the Chaudierre, the Quelle, 
Green, Metis, and many other rivers falling into 
the river St. Lawrence on the other. The line, 
it will be observed, pursues the northern coast of 
the bay of Chaleurs, and not the middle of the 
bay ; there cannot be any pretence therefore, that 
the river Ristigouche was within the meaning of 
this proclamation, a river flowing into the St. 
Lawrence, but, on the contrary, it is clearly a 
river falling into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Prior to this proclamation, the provinces of 
Massachusetts Bay and Nova Scotia were bound- 
ed north by the river St. Lawrence ; the procla- 
mation varied the boundary by transferring it, 
from the shores of the river St. Lawrence, to 
the sources of the rivers which emptied themselves 



37 

into it ; and the aforesaid provinces were then 
bounded north by the same hne, to wit, the range 
of land, be what it might, high or low, in which 
the rivers respectively had their sources, leaving 
the rivers St. John and Ristigouche partly in the 
province of Massachusetts Bay, and partly in the 
province of Nova Scotia, the sources being in the 
former, and the mouths in the latter province. 
This line has not since been altered, except be- 
tween lake Champlain and Connecticut river, 
where, instead of pursuing the high lands, it was 
fixed to the parallel of forty-five degrees north lat- 
itude. 

*The line thus established by proclamation, has 
often since by the acts of the Crown and Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain, been recognized. October, 
1763, in the commission to Montague Wilmot, re- 
voking the commission to a former governor, and 
constituting him to be Captain General and Com- 
mander in Chief of the Province of Nova Scotia, 
is the following description of boundary : " Bound- 
ed on the westward by a line drawn from Cape 
Sable across the entrance of the bay of Fundy to 
the mouth of the river St. Croix, by the said river to 
its source, and by a line drawn north from thence to 
the southern bowidary of our Colony of Quebec ■; to 
the northward by the said boundary, as far as the ices- 
tern extremity of the bay des Chaleurs, ^c." 

*In the commission to William Campbell, in 1767, 

* Appendix 8. * Appendix 9. 



38 

there is the same description of boundaries of the 
Province of Nova Scotia, and the same are again 
repeated in the commission to Francis Leggee in 
1771. The proclamation of 1763 was farther re- 
cognized and confirmed by the act of Parliament 
of the 14th of George III. by which it is enacted, 
" that all the territories, islands, and countries in 
North America, belonging to the crown of Great 
Britain, bounded on the south, by a line from the 
bay of Chaleurs, along the highlands which divide 
the rivers that empty themselves into the St. Law- 
rence, from those which fall into the sea, to a point 
in forty-five degrees of northern latitude, on the 
eastern bank of Connecticut river."* The limits 
of the several provinces were the same at the 
time of concluding the treaty of 1783. 

The question may v/ell be asked, where was the 
northwest angle of Nova Scotia, and the northeast 
angle of the province of Massachusetts Bay, be- 
fore the treaty ? Had Nova Scotia two northwest 
angles ? It has already been shown by the charter 
to Sir William Alexander, that the northwest an- 
gle of his grant was on the shore of the river St. 
Lawrence, and although by the charter of William 
and Mary, in 1691, it became a part of the pro- 
vince of Massachusetts Bay, when it was after- 
wards separated from it, its boundaries were the 
same as before, and its northwest angle still on 
the shores of the St. Lawrence. Here the angle 

* Appendix 10. 



remained fixed and stationary until 1 763, when the 
boundaries were transferred from the shore to the " 
land from which the streams falling into the river 
St. Lawrence flowed and had their source. Nova 
Scotia had therefore but one northwest angle. 
Here the line became fixed and permanent, and 
on this line, and to the northward of the heads of 
all the streams which did not flow into the river 
St. Lawrence, was the northwest angle of Nova 
Scotia.* 

When the boundaries between the provinces of 
Quebec and Massachusetts Bay, were thus clearly 
defined and hmited to that range of land, in which 
the streams falling into the St. Lawrence at the 
northward, and the St. John at the southward, and 
continued easterly to the head of the bay of Chal- 
eurs,and southwestwardly to the head of Connecti- 
cut river ; and when the boundary between the pro- 
vinces of Nova Scotia and Massachusetts Bay 
were thus clearly defined and limited to the river 
St. Croix, and a line drawn north from it to the 
aforesaid range of land, the boundary of the go- 
vernment of Quebec ; the repeated acts of arbi- 
trary power exercised by Great Britain towards 
the provinces comprising the thirteen United States, 
caused them to assert their rights ; they maintain- 
ed them successfully ; and to terminate the unpro- 
fitable struggle, Great Britain acknowledged their 
existence asan independent nation. When their ex- 

* See Appendix. 



. 40 

istence as an independent nation was thus secured, 
it became necessary for the two nations, to pre- 
vent new and unprofitable contests, to fix and es- 
tabhsh boundaries between themselves. This was 
first done in the provisional articles of peace con- 
cluded at Paris, November 30, 1782, and by the 
provisions of that instrument, were incorporated 
into, and became a part of the definitive treaty of 
Peace concluded at Paris, September 3d, 1783. 

The acknowledgment of independence, and the 
boundaries established, are described as follows, to 
wit : — 

"Article 1st. His Britannic Majesty acknow- 
ledges the said United States, to wit. New Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina, South Carohna and Georgia, to be free, 
sovereign and independent States ; and that he 
treats with them as sach ; and for himself, his heirs 
and successors, relinquishes all claims to the go- 
vernment, propriety, and territorial rights of the 
same and every part thereof. And that all dis- 
putes which might arise in future on the subject 
of the boundaries of the said United States may 
be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared 
that the following are and shall be their boundaries, 
to wit : 

" Article 2. From the northwest angle of Nova 
Scotia, to wit, that angle ivhich is formed by a line 
drawn due north from the source of the St. Croix 



41 

river to the highlands, along the said high lands 
which divide those rivers that empty themselves into 
the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the At- 
lantic Ocean, to the northivesternmost head of Con- 
necticut river, thence down along the middle of 
that river to the forty-fiftli degree of north latitude ; 
from thence by a line due west on said latitude un- 
til it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraguy ; 
thence along the middle of said river into Lake 
Ontario, through the middle of said lake, until it 
strikes the communication by water between that 
lake and lake Erie ; thence along the middle of 
said communication into lake Erie, through the 
middle of said lake, until it arrives at the water 
communication between that lake and Huron ; 
thence along the middle of said water communi- 
cation between that lake and lake Superior; thence 
through lake Superior, northward of the isles 
Royal and Philipeaux, to the long lake ; thence 
through the middle of said long lake, and the com- 
munication between it and the lake of the Woods, 
to the said lake of the Woods ; thence through 
said lake to the most northwestern point thereof; 
and from thence on a due west course to the river 
Mississippi ; thence by a line to be drawn along 
the middle of the said river Mississippi, until it shall 
intersect the northern most part of the thirty-first 
degree of north latitude. South, by a line to be 
drawn due east from the termination of the line 
last mentioned, in the latitude of thirty-one de- 
grees north of the equator, to the middle of the 
6 



42 

river Apalachicola or Catahouche ; thence along 
the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint 
river ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's 
river ; thence down along the middle of St. Mary's 
river to the Atlantic Ocean. East by a line to be 
drawn along the middle of the river St. Croix, from its 
mouth in the bay of Fundyto its source, and from its 
source directly north, to the aforesaid high lands, which 
divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from 
those which fall into the river St. Lawrence, compre- 
hending all islands within twenty leagues of any part 
of the shores of the United States, and lying be- 
tween the lines to be drawn due east from the 
points where the aforesaid boundaries between No- 
va Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on 
the other, shall respectively touch the bay of Fun- 
dy, and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands 
as now are, or heretofore have been within the 
limits of the said province of Nova Scotia." 

The first article describes by name, the several 
States composing the United States, and had the 
treaty stopped here without describing their boun- 
daries more minutely, there could have been no 
doubt but that all the territory embraced within 
the charter limits, or within the jurisdiction of 
Massachusetts Bay, passed by that description. 
Here from the use of the term Massachusetts, was 
an evident intention to conform to the lines as 
they existed before the treaty, which have been 
already shown, from the documents herein before 
cited, which are of that clear and explicit char- 



43 

acter which reheves the subject from all uncer- 
tainty and doubt. 

But when the subject is still farther pursued 
and the boundaries are more minutely described, 
what was clear before, is still made more clear 
and explicit. To be more particular — The north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, after it is ascertained 
by the rule given in the treaty, is the point from 
which the northern Hue starts. " From the north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, to wit — that angle 
which is formed by a line drawn due north from 
the source of the river St. Croix to the hiixh 
lands." — Here we may ask what angle was in- 
tended ? Was it an angle to be formed on the 
side line of the province, one hundred or more 
miles from the real and true northwest angle of 
Nova Scotia ? or was the real and true angle of 
the province, at the point where its western hue 
intersected the line of the province of Quebec ? 
The true construction is too obvious to admit a 
doubt. It is perfectly clear from the plain and 
most natural and obvious construction of the lan- 
guage used, that by the northwest angle of Nova 
Scotia was truly intended the northwestern extrem- 
ity of that province. 

The description then proceeds " along the said 
highlands which divide those rivers that empty 
into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall 
into the Atlantic Ocean." The idea that the 
words of the treaty require a range of mountains 
to form the line, is totally false and absurd. If the 



44 

commissioners intended to describe a line pursuing 
the highest range of mountains between the At- 
lantic on the one hand, and the river St. Law- 
rence on the other, they would have used the 
terms fittest for such description, and not have 
used the words which plainly and distinctly were 
intended to embrace any height of land, from the 
lowest to any other elevation, provided it did di- 
vide the waters falling into the river St. Lawrence, 
from those falling into the Atlantic Ocean. If 
mountains were found there, they were intended, 
if there were no mountains or hills, and the lands 
only ascended gently from the river St. Lawrence, 
and again descended towards the main streams 
falling into the Atlantic, constituting in fact a long 
and extended plain, from the highest parts of 
which the streams run northwardly and wcstward- 
ly into the river St. Lawrence, and southerly and 
easterly into the Atlantic — such a plain is the 
highland truly intended by the treaty, and the line 
is on that part of the plain from which the waters 
flow in different directions — If the lands are only 
high enough for the water simply to pass off in 
different directions, as completely and exactly cor- 
responds with the description in the treaty, and 
are the highlands truly and eminently intended 
by it. 

The treaty describes but two classes of rivers, as 
having any connection with this part of the boun- 
daries of the United States, to wit — such as flow 
into the river St. Lawrence and those which fall 



45 

into the Atlantic. Although the river St. Law- 
rence itself falls into the Atlantic Ocean, it is al- 
luded to in a peculiar manner, to distinguish it 
from all other rivers, and to place it and its tributary 
streams in opposition to them, whether they flowed 
into Long Island Sound, Kennebec bay, Penobscot 
bay, the great Massachusetts bay, the Bay of Fun- 
dy, or the Bay of Chaleur — or into any other part 
of the Atlantic Ocean. The language of the trea- 
ty being thus clear and explicit, it leaves no dobut 
on the mind, that the highlands of the treaty which 
divide the waters was intended that range of lands, 
whether high or low, in which the tributaries of 
the St. Lawrence have their sources and from 
which they flow. To search, therefore, for moun- 
tain ranges, or for the greatest height of land, be- 
tween the river St. Lawrence and the Atlantic 
Ocean, to fulfil the terms of the treaty, is absurd 
and preposterous. In the latter part of the article 
quoted, in describing the east boundary, the des- 
criptive language of the first part of the article is 
nearly repeated. " East by a line to be drawn 
along the middle of the river St. Croix, from its 
mouth in the Bay of Fundy, to its source, and 
from its source directly north to the aforesaid high- 
lands which divide the rivers which fall into the 
Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river 
St. Lawrence." 

Although, from the French having erected their 
crosses at the mouth of various rivers, and having 
at various times given them names from that cir- 



46 

cumstance, and the part of the country between 
the rivers St. John and Penobscot not having been 
early settled and seldom visited except for the pur- 
pose of traffic with the natives, doubts reasonably 
might arise as to the true river St. Croix, still, 
when those doubts were removed, and the river 
clearly ascertained, a certain point was fixed, from 
which the due North line was to start and nothing 
remained but to employ artists to survey the line 
and erect its monuments. This seems to have 
been a point conceded in the treaty of amity, com- 
merce and navigation, concluded at London, Nov. 
19, 1794, and in all the discussions under the fifth 
article thereof. 

Upon the clear and explicit language of the trea- 
ty, itself, before any inteUigent and impartial tribu- 
nal, the question of boundary and jurisdiction 
might be safely placed, with a perfect confidence 
in the issue. But the treaty, though definite in 
its descriptions, and requiring no foreign aid in 
its interpretg,tion, only adopted the boundaries of 
provinces v/hich had been defined, established and 
recognised by the crown and government of Great 
Britain, in their different acts from 1621 to 1775, 
which will appear by a recurrence to the descrip- 
tive language contained in the patents, charters, 
proclamations, and acts of parliament, before quot- 
ed, and nearly in the same language. There can 
therefore, be no doubt, that the ministers of both 
governments, intended to adopt, and did adopt 
in the treaty of peace, as the boundary of the Unit- 



47 

ed States, the boundaries between the provinces 
of Quebec and Nova Scotia on the one part, and 
Massachusetts on the other part, which had been 
established by, and had long been famihar to the 
government of Great Britain. This construction, 
if any further support were necessary, is amply and 
fully supported by the discussions, which led to, 
and the manner in which the boundaries were con- 
cluded by the ministers who negociated the pro- 
visional treaty of peace. The nogociation was 
carried in form, with Mr. Oswald, who advised 
with Mr. Fitzherbert the minister to the court of 
Versailles, but in fact with the British Cabinet. 
Mr. Oswald did little or nothing more, not having 
authority, than to make such propositions as the 
British Cabinet from time to time, according to 
circumstances, commanded, and receive such as 
our ministers made, until near the close of the dis- 
cussion, when he was clothed with full powers. 

A provision in favour of the loyalists, was long 
and ardently urged by the British, and as ardently 
resisted by our ministers — the right to the fisher- 
ies was urged and insisted on by our ministers, and 
made a Sine qua non by a part, and resisted by the 
British, but finally adopted, both of which topics 
occupied much time. The fixing and defining the 
boundaries of the United States also occupied 
much time, and no part or portion of it was so dili- 
gently examined and discussed, as the eastern and 
northern boundaries of the present State of Maine. 
The British in the first place insisted upon Pisca- 



48 

taqua river as the eastern limit of the United States, 
then retreated to the Kennebec, and as a last re- 
sort would consent to go as far as the Penobscot. 
During this, as during the other parts of the dis- 
cussion, messengers were continually crossing and 
recrossing the channel ; among the messengers and 
aids to the British, the ancient clerk of the board 
of trade and plantations appeared with volumes of 
records from that department, from which he read 
whatever there was which tended to show, the 
District of Maine or any part of it, was not before 
that time within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts 
bay. The American ministers in their turn pro- 
duced sundry acts of the colonial government of 
Massachusetts bay, showing the jurisdiction which 
had been exercised by her, the report of the attor- 
ney and solicitor generals who had upon the matter 
being referred to them, decided upon the sundry 
petitions, applications, and claims made for all the 
country between the Sagadahoc, (Kennebec,) and 
St. Croix, and their decision, after examining all 
the evidence was against them, and in favour of 
the jurisdiction of Massachusetts bay. Also Go- 
vernor Hutchinson's report wherein the right of 
Massachueetts bay is discussed, and a volume of 
the doings of the Commissioners at Paris. 

When the British insisted upon limiting the 
United States to the Piscataqua, the Kennebec, or 
the Penobscot, the ministers of the United States, 
or some of them insisted upon going to the St. 
^'^hn, but finally agreed to adhere to the charter 



i 



49 

of Massachusetts bay. That they did do that, 
most manifestly appears from a comparison of the 
treaty with the patents, charters, proclamations 
and acts of parliament herein before quoted. 

That it was the intention of the commissioners 
to adopt the boundaries between the provinces of 
Quebec and Nova Scotia on the one part, and 
Massachusetts bay on the other part, was expressly 
conceded and admitted on the part of the British 
in the discussions under the fifth article of the 
treaty of 1794. It even, if possible, was more than 
admitted, it is one if not the chief basis of the 
whole argument, and was enforced with great 
ability. 

The British agent in his memorial of claim 
says " by the said 2d article herein before cited, 
of the treaty of peace, it appears to be clearly in- 
tended, that no part of the province of Nova Scotia 
should be thereby ceded by his said Majesty to 
the said United States. But that the same pro- 
vince of Nova Scotia, according to its ancient and 
former limits, should be and remain a part of the 
territory of his said Majesty, as his said Majesty 
then and before that time had held and possessed 
the same." Again in his argument he says, " to 
facilitate the investigation of the present question 
there appears to be one leading principle that ap- 
pears to be explicitly established by the very terms^of 
the treaty of peace, and which might indeed be fairly 
considered as an axiom in the present discussion, 
to wit — That it ivas dearly intended by the second 
7 



50 

article of the treaty that no part of the province of 
Nova Scotia should he thereby ceded by his Majesty 
to the United States. The words made use of in 
that article will not admit of a different construction, 
the United States being expressly bounded east by 
the eastern boundaries of the province of Nova 
Scotia. The description of the treaty in this part 
of the boundaries of the United States is as fol- 
lows : From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, 
to wit, that angle which is formed by a line drawn 
due north from the source of the St. Croix to the 
highlands which divide those rivers that empty 
themselves into the St. Lawrence from those which 
fall into the Atlantic Ocean." Now if the north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, agreeable to these clear 
and express words of the treaty, is formed by such 
a north line from the source of the St. Croix to the 
highlands, that north line and those highlands must 
be the western and northern boundary of Nova 
Scotia." 

And the British agent in pursuing his argument 
further, says, that by the treaty of 1763, "all the 
French possessions upon the continent of North 
America were ceded to Great Britain ; the pro- 
vince of Quebec was created and established by 
the royal proclamation of the 7th of October of 
that year, bounded on the south by the highlands 
which divide the rivers that empty themselves into 
the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into 
the Sea or Atlantic Ocean, thereby altering the 
northern boundary of the province of Nova Scotia 



51 

from the southern shores of the river St. Lawrence 
to those highlands, there being no longer any ap- 
prehension of disturbance from the French, it now 
became necessary for the settlement of the country 
that had been in dispute between the two nations 
to ascertain the boundary line between the pro- 
vinces of Nova Scotia and Massachusetts Bay." 

Having quoted in the preceding pages the main 
documents on which our title rests, there will not, 
in the sequel, be a necessity for any thing more 
than general allusions. By a recurrence to the 
history of that time, it will be seen that the treaties 
were opposed in the British parliament, but they 
were opposed by those who had lately been in 
power, and opposition to the ministry seems to 
have constituted the leading objection ; so far as 
the treaty with the United States came in question 
the objections raised were on account of there 
being no provision in favour of the loyalists, and 
the right to the fisheries being secured to the 
United States, but there was no objection to it on 
account of the boundaries therein prescribed to 
the eastern part of the United States. If the boun- 
daries had not been such as were well known and 
familiar from their own records, the variance would 
have produced scrutiny, and if any objection could 
have been raised against it on that account, it 
would have been brought forward to increase and 
enforce their other objections. 

When the river St. Croix had been consecrated 
by De Monts in 1604, and by its being the first 



52 ' 

resting place of Europeans, who became perma- 
nent settlers in the northern parts of North Ame- 
rica ; and when, from that circumstance, and from 
the expedition of Sir Samuel Argall, its name found 
its way across the Atlantic, yet from the imperfect 
geographical knowledge at that time, the position 
of it could not have been known to the Europeans, 
and when, in the prosecution of the settlement of 
the country, other places became more alluring, 
and the river St. Croix and the country on its bor- 
ders did not become the scite of any settlement or 
military post, and the natives were there left to pur- 
sue their fisheries and the chase without molestation, 
and when, also, many other rivers on the coast were 
afterwards designated by the same name, and when 
all the maps prior to the American Revolution were 
imperfect, it is not wonderful that doubts and serious 
doubts arose as to which river was intended as the 
boundary between the province of Massachusetts 
bay and the province of Nova Scotia. Hence, as 
the river St. Croix was a part of the boundary be- 
tween the provinces, when the settlements on the 
coast began to approach each other, it became 
necessary to ascertain the river truly intended, to 
prevent collision and the conflict of jurisdiction. 

Before the American Revolution, and as early 
as the year 1764, it had become the object of the 
serious research and investigation of the respective 
provinces. From the researches of the agents of 
the province of Massachusetts bay, made on the 
spot, from the concurrent information of all the 



53 

natives, and from all the maps in their possession, 
they were convinced that the river Magaguadavic 
was the river St. Croix, such was the tradition, 
and such was the conclusion. 

It generally was considered and believed in the 
province of Massachusetts bay, that is was bounded 
east by the river Magaguadavic and by a line drawn 
due north from its source to the highlands which 
divide the rivers that empty themselves into the 
St. Lawrence from those which fall into the sea, 
or in other words, by a line drawn due north from 
the source of the said Magaguadavic river to the 
southern line of the province of Quebec, which 
had, by proclamation, been created the preceding 
year. The province of Nova Scotia on the other 
hand, believed, that the province extended west- 
ward to the river Schoodic, and was bounded west 
by the east line of the province of Massachusetts 
bay, and north by the aforesaid south line of the 
province of Quebec. Impressed with such a be- 
lief, the Governor of Nova Scotia, as the settle- 
ments extended westward, and individuals wished 
for grants of land made them, and from the year 
1765 to 1774, made sundry grants of land, lying 
between the Magaguadavic and the Schoodic 
Rivers. 

Such were the different opinions entertained at the 
commencement of the revolution, and such they con- 
tinued to be, when the provisional treaty and the trea- 
ty of peace were concluded. When the provinces 
were cut asunder, and ceased to be under the 



54 

control of the same general sovereignty, and after 
the close of the war, the loyalists settled on the 
eastern banks of the Schoodic, and extended their 
settlements between that, and the Magaguadavic 
rivers, under the grants of the province of Nova 
Scotia or the crown ; the attention of Massachu- 
setts was aroused, and called distinctly to the sub- 
ject, and the government, July 7, 1784, passed a 
" Resolve for appointing Agents to the eastern 
part of this State, to inform themselves of encroach- 
ments made by the British subjects ; and instruct- 
ing them how to proceed. The Agents were ap- 
pointed, repaired to the place where the dispute 
existed, viewed the rivers, and made all such other 
enquiries as were within their power, and became 
convinced that the river Magaguadavic was the 
river St. Croix, of the treaty of 1783. In answer 
to enquiries made by the Lieutenant Governor of 
Massachusetts, dated Autevil, near Paris, October 
25, 1784, the late John Adams, one of the negotia- 
tors of the provisional, and the treaty of peace, 
says "We had before us, through the whole negoti- 
ation, a variety of maps, but it was Mitchell's map 
upon which was marked out the whole boundary 
line of the United States ; and the river St. Croix, 
which was fixed on was, upon that map, the near- 
est to the St. Johns, so that in all equity, good con- 
science and honour, the river next to the St John's, 
should be the boundary. I am glad the General 
Court are taking early measures and hope they 
will pursue them steadily until the point is settled. 



55 

which it may be now amicably ; if neglected long, 
it may be more difficult." Massachusetts became 
confirmed in her claim, as her inquiries and re- 
searches were extended. She pressed her claim 
upon the consideration of Congress, and upon the 
consideration of the governors of Nova Scotia and 
New-Brunswick. Representations were made by 
Congress to thegovernment of Great Britain, through 
the minister of the United States. 

The different parties so far from settling the 
difficulties, probably became more and more con- 
firmed in their different opinions. After the orga- 
nization of the gove*"nment of the United States 
under the constitution, by a resolve passed Feb. 
1, 1790, it was "Resolved, that his Excllency the 
Governor be, and he hereby is requested to write 
to the President of the United States, in behalf of 
this Commonwealth, informing him that the sub- 
jects of his Britannic Majesty have made, and still 
continue to make encroachments on the Eastern 
Boundary of this Commonwealth, in the opinion 
of the Legislature contrary to the treaty of peace; 
and that his Excellency be requested to forward 
such documents as may he necessary to substan- 
tiate the facts." Thus Massachusetts called on 
the government of the United States, to protect 
them in the possession of their territory. 

The doubts which had arisen, extended no far- 
ther than to what river was intended by the river St. 
Croix in the treaty of 1783 ; the treaty only de- 
scribing it by its name, nor could they, for when 



56 

that was settled the rule was clearly and distinctly 
given for finding the northwest angle of Nova 
Scotia. That is clearly implied in the Srst part of 
the fifth article of the treaty of 1794; for it says, 
"Whereas doubts have arisen what river was truly in- 
tended under the name of the river St. Croix, men- 
tioned in the said treaty of peace, and forming a 
part of the boundary therein described, that ques- 
tion shall be referred to the final decision of com- 
missioners." The same article made it the duty 
of the Commissioners, "by a declaration under 
their hands and seals, to decide what river was 
the river St. Croix intended by the treaty, and fur- 
ther to describe the river and to particularize the 
latitude and longitude of its mouth and its source. 
If any other doubts could have existed, or if the 
residue of the line could not have been ascertain- 
ed by a survey, or if it had not been considered 
that ascertaining the river St. CroiX settled the 
whole dispute, and if such were not the convic- 
tions of the contracting parties, it is not unreason- 
able to suppose, that further provisions would have 
been introduced into the treaty. 

It was contended by the agent of the United 
States before the Commissioners, that the river 
Magaguadavic was the river St. Croix truly in- 
tended by the treaty of 1783, and he founded his 
claims and argument on many depositions of the 
natives, and of the persons who first settled in that 
part of the country, on the examination and re- 



0/ 

ports of agents on the letters and testimony of 
several other persons and on sundry maps. 

It was contended by the agent for his Britannic 
Majesty, that the river Scoudiac was the river St. 
Croix truly intended by the treaty of 1783, and he 
founded his argument on the grant to Sir AVilliam 
Alexander, Les Carbot and Champlains histories 
of the voyages of De Monts, and their description 
of the country, the commissions to Governors of 
Nova Scotia, from 1719 to 1771, the proclamation 
of 1763, and two acts of parUament of the four- 
teenth of George Third, and sundry maps* and 
depositions. His argument and the facts and doc- 
uments upon which he founded it, clearly admits 
and demonstrates, that the only uncertainty was, 
as to what river was intended by the river St. 
Croix, and that from the source of the river which 
the commissioners should decide and designate ac- 
cording to the treaty of 1794, the eastern bounda- 
ry line of the United States and the western boun- 
dary of the province of Nova Scotia must com- 
mence and continue due north to the highlands, 
to wit : the highlands between the river St. Law- 
rence and the Restigouche or the St. John, ac- 
cording as the source should be fixed further east 
or further west. He expressly admits that the line 
due north from the St. Croix will, in any event, 
cross the river St. John to the highlands, between 

* S«r Appendix. 



58 

that, and the river St. Lawrence, to wit : the lands 
which divide the streams which flow into the St. 
Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlan- 
tic* 
" The discussion was closed in 1798, and the time 
had not then arrived, when from " cupidity ^"^^ or a 
desire to establish a line from which they could 
attack the United States in the rear, while their navy 
should attack them onthesea board, when they were 
determined to acquire by eft'rontery or sophistry 
the territory, which they had sought in vain as a 
cession. 

The Commissioners on the 25th of October, 
1798, made the declaration under their hands and 
seals, deciding what, and describing the river ^Iso, 
which was truly intended by the river St. Croix, in 
the treaty of 1783.t Prior, however, to their iiiak- 
ing their final declaration, they had agreed, and 
were about making it the final declaration, that 
the river Schoodic, from its mouth at Joes Point 
to the lake Genesagranagum-sis, now called the 
round lake, being the lowest of the western Schoo- 
dic lakes, was the river St. Croix of the treaty ; 
which declaration they did not make, but by the 
agreement or consent of the agents of the United 
States and Great Britain, and the advice of the 
British Minister. t They adopted the branch cal- 
led the Cheputnetecook, to its source, as a part 
of the river which they were to decide and desig- 

* Appendix 11. t Appendix 13. % Appendix 13. 



59 

nate. If the British government gained no advan- 
tage in the decision of the commissioners, as, from 
the evidence submitted, the Commissioners might 
well have decided that the Magaguadavic was the 
river St. Croix intended by the treaty, they did in 
fact gain a most decided and important advantage 
in the adoption of the source of the Cheputnete- 
cook, instead of the source of the other branch of 
the Scoodic river, where it issues from the lake 
Genesagranagum-sis being the first lake on the 
western branch of Schoodic, above its junction 
with the Cheputnetecook. By an inspection of 
the map, it will appear that the British have gain- 
ed a tract of land, by a change of the declaration 
of the commissioners, as to the source of the river 
St. Croixj of more than one hundred and forty 
miles in length, by more than ten miles in breadth. 
These facts are not named, because there is any 
disposition, on our part, to violate the good faith 
pledged in the treaty, and the decision which was 
thus amicably made. The British, if they be, as 
they declare themselves to be, " a great, honoura- 
blCj and magnanimous nation," ought equally to 
abi<Io the decision and its consequences, in good 
faitiij Jiiiore especially as they gained so much by 
the result. Here every real doubt or difficulty of 
any importance was settled and removed ; and 
nothing remained but to run and mark the line, 
and erect its monuments. Trifling differences in 
surveying the line, might occur, arising from the 



60 

variation of the needle, and from the peculiar 
situation of the land on the line of the govern- 
ment of Quebec, at the northwest angle of No- 
va Scotia, one of which would tend to change 
the longitude, and the other the latitude, pos- 
sibly a mile ; but not in any instance to a dis- 
tance of any importance to either government. 
Some trifling differences might also arise in sur- 
veying the line between the government of Que-' 
bee and Massachusetts, in running the line south- 
westerly from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, 
as to the precise points which divide the waters, 
and the lines which should connect those points ; 
but all such diflferences are within a very narrow 
compass. That the only subject of doubt or dif- 
ficulty of any importance was what river was truly 
intended by the river St. Croix, is not only con- 
ceded by the treaty of 1794, but is demonstrated 
by the documentary evidence produced by the 
Agent of his Britannic Majesty, to wit, the pa- 
tents, charters, proclamations, and acts of Parlia- 
ment, and his arguments founded upon these do- 
cuments; his argument being, in fact, founded 
upon this plain and simple proposition, that the 
lines described by the treaty of 1783, were, and 
were intended to be the lines which had before 
been established, between ihe province of Mas.sa- 
chusetts Bay, on the one hand, and the provinces 
of Quebec and Nova Scotia on the other.* 



61 

When the subject is again recurred to by the 
respective governments, it is not treated as a sub- 
ject involving any thing more than possible difficul- 
ties of trifling importance. Hence in a conven- 
tion between his Britannic Majesty and the United 
States, which was dated the 12th day of May, 
1803, but which was not ratified by the United 
States, instead of reciting, that whereas doubts 
have arisen, &c. as in the treaty of 1794, says, 
" Whereas it has become expedient that the north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, mentioned and de- 
scribed in the treaty of peace between his Majes- 
ty and the United States," should be ascertained 
and determined, and that the line between the 
source of the river St. Croix, and the said north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, should be run and 
marked, according to the provisions of the said 
treaty of peace." And again, when the subject is 
recurred to, in a paper delivered to Lord Harrow- 
by, September 5th, 1804, the following language is 
used: "By the treaty of 1783, between the Uni- 
ted States and Great Britain, the boundary be- 
tween those States and Nova Scotia and Canada, 
is fixed by a fine, which is to run along the high- 
lands bounding the southern waters of the St. 
Lawrence." The same subject is once more re- 
curred to by our Ministers at the Court of St. 
James, in April, 1807, and the same language is 
used in a proposed article on the same subject, as 
was used in the unratified convention oi' 1803, be» 
fore recited. 



62 . 

The subject is not again recurred to between 
the respective governments until 1814, in the cor- 
respondence which preceded, and in the fifth ar- 
ticle of the Treaty of Ghent. In order to arrive 
at a full and perfect knowledge of the facts, to 
the end that the just and true interpretation of the 
fifth article of the Treaty of Ghent may more ful- 
ly appear, a particular examination of the corres- 
pondence which preceded it, between the minis- 
ters of the respective governments of the United 
States and Great Britain, connected with the great 
chain of evidence of title, and implied, and direct, 
and positive concessions of the British, is deemed 
important. The correspondence touching the sub- 
ject in discussion is as follows. 

In the protocol made by the American Commis- 
sioners of the two first conferences held with the 
British Commissioners, the third point presented 
by the Commissioners on the part of the British as 
subjects of discussion is, " the revision of the boun- 
dary line between the territories of the United 
States and those of Great Britain adjoining them 
in North America."* 

In the protocol of conference of August 8, 1814, 
among the subjects stated for discussion by the 
British Commissioners, the third is " A revision of 
the boundary line between the British and Amer- 
ican territories with a view to prevent future un- 
certainty and dispute."! 

* State papers, vol. 9, page 327. t lb. 330. 



63 

In a letter dated Ghent, August 12, 1814, from 
the American Commissioners to the Secretary of 
State.* The British Commissioners stated three 
subjects as those upon which it appeared to them 
that the discussions would be likely to turn, and 
on which they were instructed. The third subject 
stated is " A revision of the boundary hue between 
the United States and the adjacent British Colo- 
nies." With respect to this point, they expressly 
disclaimed any intention on the part of their go- 
vernment, to acquire an increase of territory, and 
represented the proposed revision as intended 
merely for the purpose of preventing uncertainty 
and dispute. In a letter dated Ghent, August 19, 
1814, from the American Commissioners to the 
Secretary of State, the third subject stated by the 
British Commissioners is " A direct communica- 
tion from Halifax and the province of New-Bruns- 
wick to Quebec to be secured to Great Britain. 
In answer to our question, in what manner this 
was to be effected ? we were told, that it must be 
done by a cession to Great Britain of that portion 
of the District of Maine, (in the State of Massa- 
chusetts) which intervenes between New-Bruns- 
wick and Quebec, and prevents their direct com- 
munication. "f 

In a note of the British Commissioners dated 
Ghent, August 19, 1814, they say, " as they are 

* State Papers, Vol. 9, page 320. t lb. 332. 



64 

desirous of stating every point in connexion with 
the subject, which may reasonably influence the 
decision of the American plenipotentiaries in the 
exercise of their discretion, they avail themselves 
of this opportunity to repeat what they have al- 
ready stated, that Great Britain desires the revision 
of the frontier between her North Americcm domin- 
ions and those of the United States, not with any 
view to an acquisition of territory, as such, hut for 
the purpose of securing her possessions^ and pre- 
venting future disputes.''''* 

Then follows a proposition that the military 
possession of the lakes shall be left in the hands of 
the British ; then the note proceeds, " if this can be 
adjusted, there will then remain for discussion the 
arrangement of the northwestern boundary between 
lake Superior and the Mississippi, the free naviga- 
tion of that river, and such a variation of the line 
of frontier as may secure a direct communication be- 
tweeii Quebec and Halifax. 

In a letter dated Ghent, August 24, 1814, from 
the American to the British Commissioners, they 
gay—" The undersigned further perceive, that un- 
der the alledged purpose of opening a direct com- 
munication between two of the British provinces 
in America, the British government require a ces- 
sion of territory fonning a part of one of the States 
of the American Union, and that they propose, with- 
out purpose specifically alleged, to draw the boun- 

* State Papers, vol. 0. pags 339. 



65 

dary line westward, not from the Lake of the 
Woods, as it now is, but from Lake Superior. It 
must be perfectly immaterial to the United States, 
whether the object of the British Government in 
demandinor the dismemberment of the United 
States, is to acquire territory as such, or for pur- 
poses less liable in the eyes of the world, to be 
ascribed to the desire of aggrandizement. What- 
ever the motive may be, and with whatever con- 
sistency views of conquest may be disclaimed, 
while demanding for herself or for the Indians, a 
cession of territory more extensive than the whole 
island of Great Britain, the duty marked out for 
the undersigned is the same. They have no au- i 
thority to cede any part of the territory of the Uni- 
ted States ; and to no stipulation to that effect will 
they subscribe.''^* 

In a letter dated Ghent, September 4, 1814, from 
the British to the American Commissioners, they 
say, " With respect to the boundary of the Dis- 
trict of Maine, and that of the northwestern fron- 
tier of the United States, the undersigned were 
not prepared to anticipate the objections contain- 
ed in the note of the American Plenipotentiaries, 
that they were instructed to treat for the revision 
of their boundary lines, with the statement which 
they have subsequently made, that they had ?io au- 
thority to cede any part however insignificant of the 
territories of the United States, although the pro- 

* State Papers, vol. 9, p. 381. 



66 

posal left it open for thetn to demand an equivalent 
for such cession in territory or otherwise. 

" The American plenipotentiaries must be awaro 
that the boundary of the District of Maine has 
never been correctly ascertained ; that the one as- 
serted at present by the American Government, by 
which the direct communication between Halifax 
and Quebec becomes interrupted, was not in con- 
templation of the British Plenipotentiaries who con- 
cluded the treaty of 1783, and that the greater part 
of the territory in question is actually unoccupied. 
The undersigned are persuaded that an arrange- 
ment on this point might be easily made, if en- 
tered into with the spirit of conciliation, without any 
prejudice to the interests of the district in ques- 
tion. As the necessity for fixing some boundary 
for the northwestern frontier has been mutually ac- 
knowledged, a proposal for a discussion on that sub- 
ject cannot be consid -red as a demand for a ces- 
sion of territory, unless the United States are pre- 
pared to assert, there is no limit to their territo- 
ries in that direction, and that availing themselves 
of the geographical error upon which that part 
of the treaty of 1783 was founded, they will ac- 
knowledge no boundary whatever, then, unques- 
tionably, any proposition to fix one, be it what it 
may, must be considered as demanding a large ces- 
sion of territory from the United States."* 

In a letter dated Ghent, September 9, 1814, from 

* State Papers, vol. 0, page 381. 



67 

the American to the British Commissioners, the 
American Commissioners say, — "With regard to the 
cession of a part of the District of Maine, as to 
which the British plenipotentiaries are unable to 
reconcile the objections made by the undersigned, 
with their previous declarations, they have the 
honour to observe, that at the conference of the 
8th ult. the British plenipotentiaries stated, as one 
of the subjects suitable for discussion, a revision of 
the boundary line between the British and Ameri- 
can territories, with a view to prevent uncertainty 
and dispute : and that it was on the point thus 
stated, that the undersigned declared that they 
were provided with instructions from their govern- 
ment ; a declaration which did not imply that 
they were instructed to make any cession of terri- 
tory in any quarter, or to agree to a revision of the 
line, or to any exchange of territory where no un- 
certainty or dispute existed. 

" The undersigned perceive no uncertainty or 
matter of doubt in the treaty of 1783, with respect 
to that part of the boundary of the District of 
Maine which would be affected by the proposal of 
Great Britain on that subject. They never have 
understood that the British plenipotentiaries who 
signed that treaty had contemplated a boundary 
different from that fixed by the treaty and which 
requires nothing more, in order to be definitely 
ascertained, than to be surveyed in conformity 
with its provisions. This subject not having been 
a matter of uncertainty or dispute, the undersigned 



68 

are not instructed upon it; and they can have no 
authority to cede any part of the State of Massachu- 
setts^ even for what the British Government might 
consider a fair equivalent.'^''* 

In a letter dated Ghent, September 19, 1814, 
from the British to the American Commissioners, 
they say, — " With respect to the boundary of the 
District of Maine, the undersio:ned observe with 
regret, that although the American plenipotentia- 
ries have acknowledged themselves to be instruct- 
ed to discuss a revision of the boundary line, with 
a view to prevent uncertainty and dispute, yet by 
assuming an exclusive right at once to decide what is 
or is not a subject of uncertainty and dispute, they 
have rendered their powers nugatory or inadmissibly 
partial in their operation. '^^^ 

In a letter dated Ghent, September 26, 1814, 
from the American to the British Commissioners, 
they say, " The undersigned are far from assuming 
the exclusive right to decide, ivhat is, or ivhat is 
not a subject of uncertainty or dispute, with regard 
to the boundary of the District of Maine. But until 
the British Plenipotentiaries shall have shown in 
what respect the part of that boundary which would 
be effected by their proposed, is such a subject, the 
undersigned may be permitted to assert that it is not.'''' 

The treaty of 1783 described the boundary as "a 
line to be drawn along the middle of the river St. 
Croix from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy, to its 

* State papers, vol. 9, p 398. t P. 400. 



69 

source, and from its source directly north to the 
highlands which divide the rivers that fall into the 
Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river 
St. Lawrence, and thence along the said highlands 
to the northwesternrnost head of Connecticut river." 
" Doubts having arisen as to the St. Croix desig- 
nated in the treaty of 1783, a provision was made 
in that of 1794 for ascertaining it; and it may be 
fairly inferred, from the limitation of the article to 
that sole object, that, even in the judgment of 
Great Britain, no other subject of controversy ex- 
isted in relation to the extension of the boundary 
line from the source of that river. That river and 
its source having been accordingly ascertained 
the undersigned are preptired to propose the ap- 
pointment of commissioners by the two governments, to 
extend the line to the highlands, conformably to the 
treaty of 1783. The proposal, however, of the 
British Plenipotentiaries was not to ascertain, but 
to vary those lines in such a manner as to secure a 
direct communication between Quebec and Halifax; 
an alteration which could not be effected without a 
cession by the United States to Great Britain of all 
that portion of the State of Massachusetts inter- 
vening between the province of New Brunswick 
and Quebec, although unquestionably included 
within the boundary lines fixed by that treaty. 
Whether it was contemplated on the part of Great 
Britain to obtain a cession with, or without an 
equivalent in frontier or otherwise, the undersigned 
in stating that they were not instructed, or autho- 



70 

rized to treat on the subject of cession, have not 
dechned to discuss any matter of uncertainty or dis- 
pute, which the British Plenipotentiaries may point 
out to exist, respecting the boundaries in that or 
any other quarter, and are, therefore, not hable to 
the imputation of having rendered their powers on 
the subject nugatory or inadmissibly partial in their 
operation."* 

In a letter dated Ghent, October 8, 1814, from 
the British to the American Commissioners, they 
say, " The British government never required that 
all that portion of Massachusetts intervening be- 
tween the province of New Brunswick and Que- 
bec, should be ceded to Great Britain, but only 
that small portion of unsettled country which inter- 
rupts the communication between Hahfax and 
Quebec, (there being much doubt whether it does 
not already belong to Great Britain. ")t In the 
letter dated Ghent, Oct. 21, 1814, from the British 
to the American Commissioners, they say, " On 
the question of boundary between the dominions 
of his Majesty and those of the United States, the 
undersigned are led to expect, from the discussion 
which this subject has already undergone, that the 
northwestern boundary from the lake of the Woods 
to the Mississippi, (the intended arrangement of 
1803,) will be admitted without objection. 

" In regard to other boundaries the American 
Plenipotentiaries, in their note of August 24, ap- 

* State papers, vol. 9, page 405. tlb. p. 415. 



71 

peared in some measure to object to the proposi- 
tion then made by the undersigned, as not being 
on the basis of uti possidetis. The undersigned 
are willing to treat on that basis, subject to such 
modifications as mutual convenience may be found 
to require ; and they trust that the American Plen- 
ipotentiaries will shew, by their ready acceptance 
of this basis, that they duly appreciate the mode- 
ration of his Majesty's government, in so far con- 
sulting the honor and fair pretensions of the Uni- 
ted States as, in the relative situation of the two 
countries to authorize such a proposition."* 

In a letter dated Ghent, October 24, 1814, from 
the American to the British Commissioners they 
say, " Amongst the general observations which the 
undersigned in their note of Aug. 24th, made on 
the propositions then brought forward on the part 
of the British government, they remarked, that 
those propositions were neither founded on the ba- 
sis of uti possidetis, nor that of status ante helium. 
But so far were they from suggesting the uti possi- 
detis as the basis on which they were disposed to 
treat, that in the same note they expressly stated, 
that they had been instructed to conclude a peace 
on the principle of both parties restoring whatever 
territory they might have taken. The undersign- 
ed also declared in that note, that they had no au- 
thority to cede any part of the territory of the Uni- 
ted States, and that to no stipulation to that effect 

* Ktate Papers, vol. 'J, HI. 



72 

would they subscribe : and in the note of the 9th 
of September, after having shewn that the basis of 
itti possidetis, such as it was known to exist at the 
commencement of the negotiation, gave no claim 
to his Britannic Majesty to cessions of territory, 
founded upon the right of conquest, they added 
that even if the chances of war should give to the 
British arms a momentary possession of other parts 
of the territory of the United States, such events 
would not alter their views with regard to the 
terms of peace to which they would give their 
consent. 

" The undersigned can only now repeat those 
declarations, and dechne treating upon the basis of 
uti possidetis, or upon any other principle involving 
a cession of any part of the territory of the United 
States, as they have uniformly stated, they can only 
treat upon the principle of a mutual restoration of 
whatever territory may have been taken by either 
party. From this principle they cannot recede, 
and the undersigned, after the repeated declara- 
tions of the British Plenipotentiaries, that Great 
Britain had no view to the acquisition of territory 
in this negotiation, de«m it necessary to add, that 
the utility of its continuance depends on their ad- 
herence to this principle."* 

In a letter dated Ghent, October 25, 1814, from 
the American Commissioners to the Secretary of 
State, they, after stating that an article had been 

* Suie Tapers, vol. 0, p. 428. 



reduced to writing, securing merely an Indian pa- 
cification, had been agreed to be accepted, sub- 
ject to the ratification or rejection of the govern- 
ment of the United States, say, " But will perceive 
that our request for the exchange of a project of 
a treaty has been eluded, and that in their last 
note, the British Plenipotentiaries have advanced 
a demand, not only new and inadmissible, but 
totally incompatible with their uniform previous 
declarations, that Great Britain had no view in this 
negotiation to any acquisition of territory. It will 
be perceived, that this new pretension was brought 
forward immediately after the accounts had been 
received, that a British force had taken possession 
of all that part of the State of Massachusetts sit- 
uated east of Penobscot river."* 

It having been shewn, in the first part of this 
report, what the lines between Massachusetts and 
Nova Scotia, and Massachusetts and the province 
of Quebec, as formed and established by the go- 
vernment were, prior to the provisional treaty, 
and the definitive treaty of peace of 1783, and the 
investigation which took place, and the care and 
dihgence with which the subject was examined, by 
the commissioners of both governnients, and the 
cabinet of Great Britain, and that it was the in- 
tention of both governments, to adopt the lines 
above mentioned, as a part of the boundary of the 
United States, and that the treaty itself, in de- 

* State Papers, vol. 9, p. 375. 
10 



74 

scribing the boundary, contains almost the precise 
language which the British had often used in re- 
lation to the same lines ; it having also been shewn 
that the only difficulty in relation to the fine arose 
from the uncertainty as to what river was truly in- 
tended by the river St. Croix, and which uncer- 
tainty arose from facts and circumstances which 
existed long before, and at the time of concluding 
the treaties, and which were not removed by the 
treaty, in consequence of the river St. Croix not 
being designated with any more particularity, than 
it was before, in the patents, charters, acts of 
Parliament, and documents, in which it had been 
mentioned ; and also, that in the discussions on the 
subject between the governments of the United 
States and Great Britain, it had been admitted, 
more especially by the agent for the latter that let 
the Commissioners designate what river they would 
as the river St. Croix, truly intended by the treaty 
of peace, from the source of that river the line 
run due north to the highlands, the southern hne 
of the government of Quebec, and the northern 
line of Massachusetts, and the province of Nova 
Scotia, and in any event even, if they adopted the 
most western point, which he described as the 
head of the river St. Croix, the line running north, 
must cross the river St. John to the highlands di- 
viding the waters which fall into that river, from 
those which fall into the river St. Lawrence.* 

* Appendix 11, 



15 ' ' 

It also having been further shown, that since 
1798, when the river St. Croix was designated by 
the Commissioners under the treaty of 1794, from 
all the correspondence and treaties, which had 
been formed or proposed to be formed by the Com- 
missioners of the two governments the right of the 
United States had not been considered any way 
doubtful, and the whole object of the arrange- 
ments thus attempted to be made had been limited 
to surveying and marking the line. 

With a recurrence to these facts and circum- 
stances, a more particular attention to the corres- 
pondence which preceded the treaty of Ghent, 
which is herein before quoted, to the end that the 
true intent and meaning of the contracting parties 
in the fifth article of that treaty may be more clearly 
ascertained and better understood, is not deemed 
unimportant. 

The British Commissioners ask a revision of the 
Boundary line between the United States and the 
adjacent British Colonies, disclaiming expressly a't 
the same time, any disposition to acquire an in- 
crease of territory, and limiting their proposition 
to the simple fact, of so ascertaining the line as to 
prevent uncertainty and dispute. Such was their 
first proposition ; but as the conferences progress- 
ed, they in some measure varied their proposition, 
and instead of asking simply a revision of the line, 
to prevent uncertainty and dispute, they ask a di- 
rect communication from Halifax and the province 
of New-Brunswick to Quebec ; and when they are 



requested to explain, explicitly declare that it must 
be done by a cession of that portion of the District 
of Maine which intervenes between Neiv- Brunswick 
and Quebec and prevents a direct communication. 

Here they clearly and distinctly ask the territo- 
ry as a cession, thereby conceding the title is not 
in them, which the subordinate agents since ap- 
pointed, have had the ingeruity to claim as a right. 
The American Commissioners most clearly and 
explicitly deny any authority on their part, to cede 
any portion of the territory asked of them, wheth- 
er to secure the right of passage between their 
different provinces or otherwise, and the denial is 
repeated as olten as the subject recurs in the con- 
ferences or correspondence. 

The British Commissioners, in giving a con- 
struction to their own proposition for securing a 
direct communication between New-Brunswick and 
Quebec, say " their proposal left it open to the 
American Commissioners, to demand an equivalent 
for such cession in territory or otherwise.^"^ Here our 
right is again conceded, in language which ad- 
mits no doubt, for the supposition that the British 
would consent to purchase of us that territory to 
which they had title, is absurd and preposterous. 
The British are too vigilant in their negotiations, 
1 1 overlook their own claims, whether well or ill 
founded. They are not generous beyond what 
their interest dictates, nor are they liable to the 
imputation of undue or disinterested generosity in 
their negotiations. 



77 

The American Ministers most explicitly stated, 
that they were not instructed to agree to any re- 
vision of the Hne where no uncertainty or dispute 
existed, and that they could perceive no uncertain- 
ty or matter of doubt in the treaty of 1783, with 
regard to that part of the boundary of the District 
of Maine, which w^ould be effected by the proposal 
ol Great Britain on the subject — That they never 
understood that the British Plenipotentiaries who 
signed that treaty, had contemplated a boundary 
different from that fixed by the treaty, and which 
requires nothing more, in order to be definitively ascer- 
tained than to be surveyed in conformity with its pro- 
visions.^^ The subject not having been a matter of 
uncertainty or dispute, they were not instructed 
upon it, and had no authority to cede any part of 
the State of Massachusetts, even for what the Bri- 
tish might consider a fair equivalent. 

To which the British Ministers replied, that al- 
though the American Commissioners acknowledg- 
ed themselves to be instructed to discuss the re- 
vision of the boundary line, yet by assuming to de- 
cide for themselves what was or what was not a 
subject of uncertainty or dispute, they had render- 
ed their powers nugatory or inadmissibly partial. 

The American Commissioners having stated their 
construction of the treaty of 1783, as it applied 
to the line between Maine, and the Provinces of 
Nova Scotia and Canada, say that they have not 
pretended to assume any thing, but shall persevere 
in their opinions until the British Commissioners 



78 

should point out, in what respect the part of the 
boundary, which would be affected by their propo- 
sal, is such a subject of uncertainty or dispute. 
That all the doubts which could have ever existed in 
relation to the line, were settled under the treaty of 
1794, and were prepared to propose the appoint- 
ment of Commissioners to extend the lines to the 
highlands in contormity to the treaty of 1783. 
That the proposition of the British was to vary 
those lines by obtaining a cession of the territory 
between New-Brunswick and Quebec, although 
that territory was unquestionably included within 
the boundary lines fixed by the treaty. 

Although the subject is again thus clearly pressed 
upon the consideration of the British Commission- 
ers, and they are called upon to point out any un- 
certainty or dispute, or cause of uncertainty or 
dispute, in relation to the boundary, with a perfect 
understanding, that their acquiescence would be 
taken as the admission of the fact, to wit, that 
there was no uncertainty or dispute as to the boun- 
dary line ; they pointed out no uncertainty, but 
contented themselves by saying the " British Go- 
vernment never required that all that portion of 
Massachusetts which intervenes between the pro- 
vince of New-Brunswick and Quebec should be 
ceded to Great Britain, hut only that small portion of 
territory ivhich interrupts the communication betiveen 
Halifax and Quebec (there being much doubt whe- 
ther it does not already belong to Great Britain.") 
Here no uncertainty or dispute is pointed out, they 



m 



79 

do not once say the line stops at Mars hill, or any 
other point, but admit that it does not, by invaria- 
bly asking the territory, or a communication bc" 
tween New Brunswick and Quebec or Halifax and 
Quebec as a cession. Instead of meeting the pro- 
position of the American Commissioners, in the 
frankness and candor with which it was made, they 
do no more than superadd a doubt, which the 
whole correspondence shows they did not believe, 
perhaps with a glimmering hope that the British 
Government, might find some daring Agent who 
would have the hardihood to claim, and by ingeni- 
ous sophistry endeavour to maintain, as a right, 
that which from their convictions of right and jus- 
tice, they requested only as a cession : some one who 
would not be restrained, by that high minded and 
honourable course, which ought ever to be pre- 
served, to maintain the relations of peace and har- 
mony between nations ; but would sacrifice every 
consideration of that kind to acquire a temporary 
advantage regardless of its future results. 

After the British had taken military possession 
of Castine, and claimed, from that circumstance, 
the military possession of the territory of the State 
of Maine, east of Penobscot river, and having al- 
together failed, even in the prospect of obtaining 
any part of the State of Maine by cession, they 
change their proposition, and, to effect the same 
object, propose the principal of uti possidetis as the 
basis, subject to such modifications as mutual con- 
venience may be found to require. To this pro- 



80 

position, the American Commissioners promptly 
and unequivocally, as they had done on all other 
occasions, refused treating " on the principle of 
uti possidetis, or upon any other principle involving 
a cession of any part of the territory of the United 
States." 

Can it for a moment be supposed, that when the 
British Commissioners so often requested the ter- 
ritory as a cession, and expressed a disposition to 
give an equivalent, if it would be received, and 
when they were as often and peremptorily denied, 
on the ground of total want of authority to cede, 
that it was the intention of the Commissioners to 
do any thing more, than to provide for the survey 
and marking of the hnes, and to guard against any 
possible difficulties of a minor character such as 
the variation of the needle, or the precise spot, 
where the corner, to wit, the northwest angle of 
Nova Scotia, should be fixed, on the range of high- 
lands, limiting the sources of those rivers which 
empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, or 
some other possible difficulties of a similar charac- 
ter, none of which would vary the lines materially, 
or in any important degree, to eith'^r government? 
When the whole is tkiriy and candidly examined, 
such must be the conclusion. No other conclusion 
can be made, unless it be on the ground that the 
American Commissioners undertook to exercise a 
power, winch they so often and explicitly declared 
to the British, they did not possess, and if they did 
exercise a power which tiiey did not possess, their 
acts were not obligatory upon the government. 



81 

A careful examination of the fifth article of the 
treaty of Ghent, does not involve a conclusion, 
that the Commissioners departed from the powers 
given them, and their repeated and reiterated de- 
clarations. The part of the article relating to the 
point under discussion, is as follows: "Whereas 
neither that point of the highlands, lying due north 
from the source of the river St. Croix, and desig- 
nated in a former treaty of peace between the two 
powers, as the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, 
nor the northwestermost head of Connecticut river, 
has yet been ascertained, and whereas that boundary 
line between the dominions of the two powers, 
which extends from the source of the river St. 
Croix, directly north, to the above-mentioned angle 
of Nova Scotia, thence along the said highlands 
which divide those rivers that empty themselves 
into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall 
into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwestermost 
head of Connecticut river, thence down along that 
river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, due 
west by a line on said latitude, until it strikes the 
river Iroquois or Cataraguy, has not yet been 
surveyed ; it is agreed for these several purposes, 
two Commissioners shall be appointed, sworn and 
authorized to act exactly in the manner directed 
with respect to those mentioned in the next pre- 
ceding article, unless otherwise specified in the 
present article. The said Commissioners shall 
have power to ascertain the points abovementioned, 
in conformity with the provisions of the said treaty 
11 



r 

of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty 
three, and shall cause the boundary aforesaid to 
be surveyed and marked according to the said pro- 
visions. The said Commissioners shall make a 
map of said boundary, and annex it to a declara- 
tion under their hands and seals, certifying it to be 
a true map of said boundary, and particularizi,ng 
the latitude of the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, 
and of the northwestermost head of Connecticut 
river, and of such other points of said boundary as 
they may deem proper." 

Here the question may be repeated, has Nova 
Scotia two northwest angles? or an ideal one, 
placed where the '' cup'ulitif or the interested 
views of either party may dictate ? or is the north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, the northwest angle of 
Nova Scotia as established by the Crown and 
Government of Great Britain, adopted by the treaty 
of 1783, and recognized in the discussions by the 
Agents under the fifth article of the treaty of 1794, 
and also recognized by all subsequent discussions 
between the United States and Great Britain? It 
cannot be reasonably supposed, that the Commis- 
sioners had any other angle in view, especially as 
the article seems to recognize and place the loca- 
cation of the angle on the construction of the trea- 
ty of 1783, explained as it was by the treaty of 
1794, and the discussions under that treaty. It 
cannot be supposed that the British Commissioners 
expected to gain, that which they had requested as 
a cession, or the American Commissioners expect- 



\ 



83 

ed to loose any thing which they had denied, from 
the language used and references made in the ar- 
ticle above quoted ; but it is to be supposed, that 
both parties in agreeing to the article, limited to 
the description in the treaty of 1783, as the same 
had been defined and the rights of the parties un- 
der it had been explained by direct and implied 
acknowledgments of its true construction, from the 
time of its adoption, intended simply to provide for 
the survey and marking of the line. No other 
conclusion can follow, unless it be supposed, that 
the high minded and honourable men, who nego- 
tiated the treaty, did on the one part resort to 
the most despicable chicanery, and the other to a 
gross and palpable violation of the power and au- 
thority to them delegated ; neither of which can 
be true. It follows then, that to fulfil this article, 
nothing more was required, than to survey and 
mark the lines, and that the difiiculties which could 
arise, if any, were of minor consequence, not in- 
volving in any event, but a trifling extent of terri- 
tory, and of little importance to either government, 
and by no means involving the title to the inter- 
vening territory betv/een New Brunswick and 
Quebec, which had often been sought as a cession, 
to secure a direct communication, and as often 
denied. 

If the Agents and Commissioners of the two go- 
vernments have departed from this plain and natu- 
ral interpretation of the treaty, they must have 
erred from causes which are creditable to neither. 



If a line were to be established, contrary to this 
obvious construction, it is to be foreseen, that the 
party thus deprived of its rights, would imbibe a 
spirit not to be subdued, and which would seek its 
redress whenever it could, at any sacrifice. If the 
British colonists were to be governed by their true 
interests, they would not endeavour to acquire any 
thing by construction, against the true and com- 
mon sense interpretation of all the treaties, because 
in that they would discover the germs of eternal 
hostility. 

If, in the prosecution of the duties under this 
article, the Agent of the United States has miscon- 
strued and extended its application beyond its 
plain and obvious construction, or had not a clear 
and distinct view of the meaning of the terms 
" highlands, which divide the waters,''^ in the treaty 
of 1783, or was bewildered by mountains, or moun- 
tain ranges, when even mole hills answer the des- 
cription precisely, if they do " divide the waters 
which flow into the river St. Lawrence, from those 
which fall into the Atlantic," and if the British 
Agent, in the prosecution of his duties, under the 
same article, has pretended that the northwest 
angle of Nova Scotia is at Mars hill, and that the 
line of the United States runs southwestwardly 
from that point, when the territory extending north, 
northwest, west and southwestwardly, is claimed 
as a part of the ancient province of Nova Scotia, 
thereby destroying the northwest angle of Nova 
Scotia, which had been established by a series of 



85 

acts of the British government, and acknowledged 
by them to this time, and substituting therefor, a 
southwest angle, and, if from the course so absurd 
and preposterous in itself, ingenuity should obtain 
a temporary triumph over right, a question will 
arise, growing out of the nature of, and the organ- 
ization of the State and National governments ; 
has the United States any constitutional authority 
to cede any part of an independent sovereignty 
composing one of its members ? 

The Commissioners of the United States who 
negotiated the treaty of Ghent, uniformly denied 
the right of cession, but whether they founded 
their denial on the want of authority in the instruc- 
tions given them, or upon the Constitution of the 
United States, is not perfectly clear ; if upon the 
first, they adopted a right course ; if upon the last, 
their course was also right, and there must be per- 
fect harmony of opinion, because either principle 
preserves the rights of the individual States. On 
this subject it may be important to consider the 
object and nature of the association of the States, 
which led to the adoption of the Constitution. 

The general government, which had originated 
in the oppression of Great Britain and been sus- 
tained by the pressure of an external enemy, and 
had carried the country through the Revolution, 
when peace was restored, was found to be too fee- 
ble for any valuable purpose to the States. Its in- 
herent defects had, by a few years experience, 
been shewn, and the States for want of general 



86 

union were in danger of degenerating and falling 
into anarchy, and of becoming a prey to each other, 
or any foreign nation. The independent sove- 
reignties saw the necessity of associating anew, 
which they did, and in that association mutually 
delegated limited parts of their sovereign power 
for the greater security of those retained. 

As in the first confederation mutual defence and 
protection was a primary object, so it was, in the 
last confederation ; a mutual protection, not hmi- 
ted to the personal rights of individuals, but ex- 
tended to the full and free exercise of the whole 
sovereign power, not delegated, to the extent of 
the territorial jurisdiction of the State. With this 
view of the object of the confederation, composed 
as it was of independent sovereignties, it cannot 
be supposed that they ever intended to give to the 
general government any power by which they might 
be destroyed and consolidated, or by which even 
their rights of sovereignty and jurisdiction might 
be abridged. It has never been pretended that 
Congress has the power of taking from one State 
and giving to another, or to incorporate new States 
within the limits of old ones ; nor has it ever claim- 
ed to exercise such a power. The most it has 
ever done, or has a constitutional right to do, has 
been, to give its consent to the compact made be- 
tween the parties immediately interested, and to 
admit the new State into the Union. 

If Congress do possess the power of ceded any 
portion of an independent State, they possess a 



87 

power to break down the State sovereignties by 
which they were created, and at their pleasure to 
produce a consolidation of those sovereignties ; a 
power which was never delegated or intended. 
If, therefore, the Congress of the United States 
attempt to exercise such a power, the State thus 
deprived of, or limited in its rights of sovereignty, 
must submit, or enforce its rights. 

The rights of protection in the exercise of the 
sovereign power of the State are equal, whether it 
is an exterior or interior State, and Congress can 
have no more constitutional right to take from 
Maine and cede to New-Brunswick, than they 
have to take from Virginia a part of her territory, 
and cede it to North Carolina. Congress has not 
claimed to exercise such a power, for the construc- 
tion of the treaty of Ghent herein before given 
does not involve such a power, unless from a mis- 
construction of its provisions, limiting as it does 
the v/hole power of the commission to the survey- 
ing and marking of the lines, and erecting its mon- 
uments, according to the treaty of 1783. 

But, it will at once be seen, if the government 
of the United States yield to the misconstructions 
of the agents, so far as to be endangered by the 
-^sult, that by the misconstructions of the one and 
the ingenuity of the other, arising from a strong 
desire to Require for his country the territory which 
had been so often but unsuccessfully sought as a 
cession, and by its final result the lines of the State 
of Maine are materially changed, she will be as 



83 

much dispossessed of her territory and sovereign- 
ty, as she would have been by a direct exercise of 
the power of cession. The one mode equally with 
the other involves an assumption of power which 
was never delegated. If such an unfortunate oc- 
currence ever arises, from any cause, the duty 
which the State owes herself and her sister repub- 
lics is plain. 

While it is the duty, as well as the interest, of 
individuals, as well as States, to yield a peaceable 
and quiet obedience to every exercise of consti- 
tutional power on the part of the government of 
the United States, it is equally their duty, and their 
interest to resist all encroachments on the rights 
which they have reserved. If a part of the State 
of Maine should be surrendered by the govern- 
ment of the United States, either by a direct or 
indirect exercise of the power of cession, it will 
then be a duty which she owes herself, to consider, 
whether she has, by such an invasion of her rights, 
lost her right of sovereignty and jurisdiction. Such 
an exercise of power can have no obhgatory force, 
and unless Maine quietly and peaceably submits, 
it will be the duty of the States ; a duty imposed 
by the Federal Government, to afford her aid and 
protectioji, and to aid her in regaining her rights. 

From the provisional treaty of peace in 1782 to 
the treaty of Ghent, for a period of more than thirty- 
two years, the British always conceded our title 
and our rights, whenever the subject was present- 
ed in the discussions between them and the United 



89 

States. Even in the argument of the British 
Agent under the fourth article of the treaty of 
Ghent, dehvered before the Commissioners in Sep- 
tember 1817, after the Board under the fifth arti- 
cle of the same treaty, and the agents had made 
their agreement for a survey, he unequivocally ad- 
mits and shows our title. He says, " That the north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia mentioned in the treaty 
as the commencing point in the boundary of the 
United States is the northwest angle of the said 
Province of Nova Scotia, designated in the grant 
to Sir William Alexander in 1621, subject only to 
such alteration as was occasioned by the erection 
of the Province of Quebec, 1763." 

Since the treaty of Ghent and the entire failure on 
the part of the British to obtain the territory by 
cession or purchase, and since September, 1817, 
they have pretended to claim it as a right, and do, 
in fact, pretend to claim a much greater extent 
than they had ever sought by way of cession, by ex- 
tending the claim much further, south and west, 
than is necessary to secure a communication be- 
tween Halifax and Quebec. 

The idea of claim, as they at present make it, 
probably originated with some of their subjects in 
the provinces, who, having a great desire to hold 
the country, endeavoured to stimulate the govern- 
ment of Great Britain, that she might, by some 
means, be induced to obtain it. In order to show 
the origin as well as the substance of their claim, 
as they now make it, the following extract is made 
12 



90 

from a work published a little before the organi- 
zation of the commission under the fifth article of 
the treaty of Ghent, entitled " A Topographical de- 
scription of the Province of Lower Canada, with 
remarks upon Upper Canada, and on the relative 
connexion of both Provinces with the United States 
of America, by Joseph Bouchette, Surveyor Gen- 
eral of Lower Canada, Col. C. M." This work 
was dedicated to the present King, George IV. 
then Prince Regent, and was accompanied with 
splendid maps. Col. Bouchette was attached to 
the commission under the fifth article of the trea- 
ty of Ghent, at the commencement, as principal 
surveyor on the part of the British. 

He says, " the height of land on which the boun- 
dary is supposed to pass, runs to the northeast and 
divides the waters that fall into the St. Lawrence 
from those flowing into the Atlantic, and which 
height after running some distance upon that course 
sends oflf a branch to the eastward, that separates 
the head of the Thames falling into Lake Temis- 
couata and river St. John, and by that channel into 
the bay of Fundy from those that descend in a 
more direct course to the Atlantic. 

" The main ridge continuing its northeasterly di- 
rection is intersected by an imaginary line, pro- 
longed in a course astronomically due north from 
the head of the river St. Croix, and which ridge 
is supposed to be the boundary between Lower 
Canada and the United States; at least such ap- 
pears to be the way in which the treaty of 1783 is 



I 



^1 

construed by the American Government, but which 
ought to be more fairly understood as follows to 
wit : That the astronomical line running north from 
the St. Croix should extend only to the first easterly 
ridge, and thence run westerly along the crest of 
the said ridge to the Connecticut, thereby equita- 
bly dividing the waters flowing into the St. Law- 
rence from those that empty into the Atlantic, 
within the limits of the United States, and those 
that have their streams within the British province 
of New-Brunswick. It is important and must al- 
ways have been in contemplation, that an unin- 
terrupted communication and connexion should 
exist between all his Majesty's North American 
possessions ; but by the manner in which the trea- 
ty is insisted upon by the opposite party, a space 
of more than eighty-five miles would be placed 
within the American limits, by which the British 
provinces would be completely secured ; it would 
also prove the inconvenience of having the mail, 
from England to Quebec, carried over that dis- 
tance of American territory, and which may be 
deemed either a matter of indulgence or com- 
plained of as an encroachment, according to the 
transfer of the times. Within this tract is also 
the Madawaska settlement, consisting of nearly 
two hundred families all holding their grants from 
the British Government. England at all times high 
minded and generous, never shrinks from the ful- 
filment of her engagements even though from the 
want of political acuteness in the persons employ- 



92 

ed, they may have been formed in a manner pre- 
judical to her interests. But at the same time 
she has a right to require that the interpretation 
of them should not be overstrained or twisted from 
the obvious meaning and intent, by a grasping cu- 
pidity after a few miles of country which could be 
of little advantage to the opposite party." 

The above extract has been made, because it 
shews the whole of the British claim, as they have 
since made it, as well as the substance of all the 
arguments they have urged in its support; all 
which has since been done by them, whether in 
making surveys, collecting documents, or making 
arguments, for a period of more than five years, 
has not placed their pretensions in a stronger 
light. If subsequent occurrences have given their 
claim any additional plausibility, it can only be at- 
tributed to the Agents having transgressed the 
authority given them by the treaty, and discussed 
a claim which was not submitted. Here it is 
wholly unnecessary to repeat the facts and docu- 
ments herein before quoted or referred to— a mere 
recurrence to them and placing them in opposition 
to the British argument, shows, to use no harsher 
term, its total absurdity. 

The argument seems to be addressed to the 
pride of the British, and vanity of the Americans. 
— As it relates to the British, the argument has 
had its effect, but as it relates to the Americans, 
it has been a little too gross to deceive. If the 
discovery had been made more seasonably, it might 



93 

have acquired a temporary appearance of plausi- 
bility, but when the subject had come before Par- 
hament and had also been under discussion by the 
Commissioners and Agents of the two governments, 
and last of all, when the British Commissioners 
had perseveringly sought the territory, in every 
form as a cession, from seventeen hundred and 
eighty-two to eighteen hundred and fourteen, a pe- 
riod of thirty-two years, the argument is not cal- 
culated to deceive, and ill accords with a character 
always ^^high-minded and generous, and which ne- 
ver shrinks from the fulfilment of its engagements. '^^ 

The territory, from all our researches never has 
been claimed as a right by the British government 
or any of its Commissioners or Agents, until 1817, 
after the Commission under the fifth article of 
the treaty of Ghent was organized ; but on the con- 
trary, as. has been before shewn, the right has always 
been conceded to be in the United States. Now 
their claim, stripped of its verbiage, and translated 
into plain language, rests on this plain and simple 
proposition — the country lies between two of our 
provinces, it will we useiul to us, not only by facili- 
tating communication, but it is important also in a 
military point of view — we could not obtain it by 
cession, though we were willing to give an equiva- 
lent, but'we want it, and we will have it. 

The State of Massachusetts considering her 
right of sovereignty and jurisdiction co-extensive 
with her title, did not anticipate any disturbance 
or intrusion, and did not consider herself under 



94 

any necessity of cultivating her whole territory, or 
of keeping up a military force for its protection, 
relying upon the good faith which had appeared 
to manifest itself on the part of the British in the 
negotiations and discussions between them and the 
United States, and presuming also that the British, 
whenever they were found to have crossed her 
lines, would disavow the act and restore the coun- 
try — she had from time to time made grants of her 
unappropriated lands, as the same were sought for 
public and private purposes. She early granted 
Mars hill to some of the soldiers of the revolution. 
In Sept. 1806, Massachusetts conveyed two half 
townships, one to Deerfield and the other to West- 
field Academies, lying west of the township of 
Mars hill, pursuant to a survey and plan made in 
conformity with the provisions of a resolve which 
had passed some time before. In Dec. 1807, she 
conveyed one township lying on both sides of the 
Aroostook and near the meridian line, from the 
source of the St. Croix, according to a selection, 
survey and plan, made under a resolve passed in 
March, 1806. In January, 1808, she conveyed ten 
thousand acres lying west of the aforesaid town- 
ship, and on both sides of the Aroostook, pursuant 
to a survey and plan made under a resolve of 
March, 1806. Had the residue of territory been 
applied for, she would have continued granting it, 
in large or small tracts, until she had granted the 
whole, provided the object of the grants had met 
her approbation. Hence she not only exercised 



9^ 

sovereign power co-extensive with her title, but 
also individual acts of sovereignty, and to what 
extent she pleased. 

The restrictive system adopted by the govern- 
ment of the United States, commencing about this 
period, checked the general business of the coun- 
try, and at the same time allayed the spirit of im- 
provement and settlement, and entirely put a stop 
to speculations in wild lands, and there being no 
more applications or grants of wild lands, she had no 
occasion to make them. The war succeeded, which 
still further checked the progress of improvement 
and settlement, and several years were required to re- 
cover from the diversions occasioned by it ; hence 
from a coincidence of circumstances no grants 
were made. 

Entertaining no suspicion that any claim would 
be made by the British, or discussed by the agents, 
inconsistent with every thing which had transpired, 
and especially in all the correspondence which had 
preceded, and in the treaty of Ghent itself, she 
could have had no reason to presume that claims 
would be made and urged, which could infringe her 
rights of sovereignty and jurisdiction. Hence she 
reposed in perfect confidence, that the lines would 
be run and marked, and monuments erected ac- 
cording to her title, as it had always been under- 
stood by her, and conceded by the British, and 
therefore made no inquiries to ascertain the claims 
urged, or the progress of the Commission. — In 
1819 she passed the act of separation between her 
and the district of Maine, which was approved by 



96 

Congress the next session, and Maine was admitted 
into the union as an Independent State — By the 
act of separation Massachusetts retained the fee 
simple of a moiety of the Wild lands, but the resi- 
due, and the entire sovereignty and jurisdiction 
was vested in Maine. — Maine having thus become 
an Independent State, and more than three years 
having elapsed after the organization of the com- 
mission under the fifth article of the treaty of 
Ghent, a time more than sufficient, to have per- 
formed all which was submitted and there being 
reports that the British agent was vigilant, and the 
American remiss, and that surveys, were going on 
in quarters wholly unanticipated, she of course 
became anxious, and had reason to fear the sub- 
ject was taking a direction never in the contempla- 
tion of the Commissioners who negotiated, or in- 
volved in the treaty itself. The Governor of the 
State noticed the subject, in the first message 
which was delivered June 2d, 1820, to both branch- 
es of the Legislature. He says, " What progress 
has been made under the fifth article of the British 
treaty in settling the eastern boundary of the State 
against the province of New Brunswick, and the 
northern boundary against that of Lower Canada, 
I am unable to inform you. As this State and 
Massachusetts have so deep an interest in the set- 
tlement of these boundaries, there would seem to 
have been a propriety in the agent appointed on 
the part of the United States, being taken from 
one of these two States. But under existing cir- 



97 

cumstances you will consider whether the interest 
of the State does not require from you the adop- 
tion of such arrangements as are best calculated 
to afford the present Agent such information in re- 
lation to this important subject as the people in 
this State have it in their power to give." 

The Message was answered on the 12th June 
1820, wherein it was among other things Resolved 
•' That the Governor of this State be requested to 
transmit to the President of the United States, 
a copy of the Resolve, accompanied with such 
representations in relation to this subject, as he 
shall think proper and best calculated to effect the 
object." The request was complied with by the 
Governor, who in July, 1820, transmitted a copy of 
the resolve to the President, and among other 
things observed to him "When it is considered 
that Massachusetts and Maine have the right oi 
soil, that Maine has also a State jurisdiction, that 
the people here have not the honour of an ac- 
quaintance either with the Commissioner or Agent, 
and have not been advised of any reason for the 
delay to the present time it will not be considered 
a matter of surprise that their extreme solicitude 
should be such as to render desirable, information 
on a subject so generally interesting." 

It is not unknown to the people of this State 
that the British Agent has been very attentive to 
the business in which he has been engaged, and 
that he has caused the country near the lines to be 
examined and explored in the most particular man- 

13 



98 

ner ; while it is not understood that comparatively 
any thing has been done on the part of the Ameri- 
can Agent. With impressions such as these, the 
boundary being an extensive one it would be high- 
ly satisfactory to people of this State should it 
comport with the views of the executive of the 
United States, to designate a person to assist the 
present Agent in his important duties, that the 
boundary may not only be more expeditiously, but 
more satisfactorily adjusted." 

The substance of the reply which was made ap- 
peared in the next message of the Governor. 

This year, in the exercise of their general powers 
of sovereignty and jurisdiction, the Marshall ofMaine, 
under a law of the United States, took the census 
of the inhabitants settled on the St. John river and 
its tributary streams west of the Meridian line 
from the monument at the source of the Saint 
Croix, and the south hue of the province of Que- 
bec, or Lower Canada. 

In the autumn of the year of 1820, an agent was 
sent by the Governor and Council to explore the 
public lands upon the St. John and its branches 
west of the meridian line from the monument, 
which service he performed. 

The Governor again in his message, which was 
dehvcred January 11, 1821, to both branches of the 
Legislature, called their attention to the subject of 
the preservation of the timber on the public lands, 
and after enumerating several places as the scenes of 
depredations, says, " it appears that trespasses with- 



99 

in our acknowledged territory, particularly on the 
rivers Aroostook, De Chute, Presquille and Me- 
duxnekeag, committed by persons residing in the 
British provinces are very great, accordingly, ar- 
rangements have lately been adopted with a view 
to prevent such predatory incursions in future." 

He also states that he forwarded the Resolve of 
the prior session of the Legislature to the Presi- 
dent, and Secretary, transmitted a copy of the 
same to the American Commissioners, who in re- 
ply " gave a reasonable ground of expectation that 
the final decision of the points in controversy res- 
pecting those lines would have been made in 
October last. — And from information obtained from 
other sources, adds—-" All reasonable hope of a 
speedy adjustment seems therefore to have van- 
ished." 

The Governor after having received information 
that British subjects were trespassing on the tim- 
ber lands of Maine and Massachusetts on the 
Aroostook, appointed Benjamin J. Porter, Esquire, 
with the advice of council to proceed immediately 
to that place, and to notify the persons whom he 
should find trespassing on the timber lands afore- 
said west of the line which had been run by order 
of the Commissioners appointed by the United 
States and Great Britain from the monument at 
the sowrce of the St. Croix to the line of the pro- 
vince of Lower Canada, that if they would pay a 
proper consideration for the timber they had cut, 
and desist from any further depredation on that 



100 

part of our territory, he was authorized to settle 
with them on those principles — but if they declin- 
ed, he was directed to proceed to Houlton plan- 
tation and adopt the necessary measures, and ob- 
tain such assistance as in his judgment would be 
required, to take the trespassers and their teams 
and bring them to Houlton plantation, and there 
keep them until the Executive could be advised of 
the measures adopted. 

The agent thus appointed and instructed pro- 
ceed to the Aroostook, and found British subjects 
trespassing there, with whom he settled, and re- 
ceived also the assurances required, that they would 
not return, and would desist from cutting the tim- 
ber. 

The efforts thus far made, not having produced 
the intended results, the Legislature, January 16, 
1822, passed a resolve requesting the Senators and 
Representatives of this State in the Congress of 
the United States, to collect information touching 
Ihe causes of the differences between the Ameri- 
can and British Commissioners under the treaty of 
Ghent respecting the boundary line, between this 
State and the British provinces of lower Cana- 
da and Nova Scotia, and the extent and nature 
of the claims set up by the said British Commis- 
sioners. The resolve was duly communicated. 
No progress was however made and the object of 
the Resolve was not answered. In February 1822, 
an agent was appointed with full power to prevent 
trespassing upon the timber in the public lands, on 



8 



101 

the Aroostook, Maduxnekeag and Presquilla riv- 
ers and their branches west of the meridian hne 
from the monument, and he entered immediately 
upon the duties of his agency and visited the places 
required, and accomplished the objects of his ap- 
pointment. The subject is again recurred to Jan. 
10, 1824, by the Governor in his message, which 
led to no specific act on the part of the Legisla- 
ture — Jan. 7, 1825, the Governor again calls the 
attention of the Legislature to the subject of the 
Northeastern boundary, stating also that he had 
understood from respectable sources, that depre- 
dations had been committed on our timber lands, 
on the Aroostook and Madawaska and other streams 
emptying into the St. John ; and that unless en- 
ergetic measures are speedily adopted on the part 
of the State, our valuable timber in that region 
will be soon destroyed ; and that from the repre- 
sentations, the depredations were committed by 
British subjects. 

This led to an investigation as far as the limi- 
ted means possessed by the Government of this 
State permitted, and a resolve passed Jan. 24, 
1825, among other things requesting the Governor 
of this State to correspond with the Governor of 
the province of New-Brunswick relative to the 
depredations which had been committed by British 
subjects on the timber on the public lands of this 
State, west of the boundary line between this 
State and the province of New-Brunswick, as 
heretofore recognized ; and to ascertain whether 



102 

that government had authorized any persons to cut 
timber upon these lands or to settle thereon. 

The land agent of Maine was instructed in con- 
junction with such person as should be designated 
by Massachusetts, or if none should be appointed, 
without that agent, forthwith to take effectual mea- 
sures to ascertain the extent of the depredations on 
the lands belonging to this State and Massachusetts, 
or on lands belonging to this State ; by whom the 
same have been committed, and under what authori- 
ty, if any, such depredations were committed. 

The Governor was also requested to forward 
each of the Senators and Representatives in Con- 
gress from this state a copy of the report of the 
Corhmittee on the part of the Governor's Message 
relative to depredations on the public lands, and 
of the Resolves, and also to request them to take 
the necessary measures to obtain an early adjust- 
ment of the Northeastern boundary of this State. 

The Governor enclosed and forwarded the same 
on the 25th of January 1825. During the same 
session of the Legislature, February 22d, 1825, 
they passed a Resolve respecting the settlers on 
the St. John and Madawaska rivers. " Whereas 
there are a number of settlers on the undivided 
public lands on the St. John and Madawaska Ri- 
vers, many of whom have resided thereon for more 
than thirty years ; therefore resolved, That the land 
agent of the State, in conjunction with such agent 
as may be appointed for that purpose, on the part 
of Massachusetts, be, and he is hereby authorised 



103 

and directed to make and execute good and suf- 
ficient deeds, conveying to such settlers in actual 
possession, as aforesaid, their heirs and assigns, one 
hundred acres each, of land, by them possessed, 
to include the improvements on their respective 
lots, they paying the said agent for the use of the 
State, five dollars each, and the expense of sur- 
veying the same. 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, June 11, 
1825, did provide by Resolve among other things 
— "Whereas there are a number of settlers on the 
St. John and Madawaska rivers, many of whom 
have resided there more than thirty years, there- 
fore resolved, That the land agent of this Common- 
wealth in conjunction with such agent as has been 
or may be appointed for that purpose on the part 
of the State of Maine, be, and the same is hereby 
authorized and directed to make good and suffi- 
cient deeds, conveying to such settlers in actual 
possession as aforesaid, their heirs and assigns, one 
hundred acres each of land by them possessed to 
include their improvements on their respective 
lots, they paying to the said agent, for the use of 
this Commonwealth five dollars each, and the ex- 
pense of surveying the same." 

The agents thus authorized did in the autumn of 
that year proceed up the St. John to the Madawas- 
ka settlement, and thence to the mouth of the 
Maryumpticook, and surveyed, and conveyed, two 
lots of Land, on the 3d of October, to John Baker 
and James Bacon, citizens of this State. Tliey 



104 

had settled above the French neutrals on the St. 
John and its waters ; and at the time when the 
settlers on the lots were commenced, there was no 
settlement within several miles of them. They 
also posted up notices, stating their authority, and 
proposing to give deeds, according to the Resolves 
under which they acted. 

This year Maine and Massachusetts, in contin- 
uing their surveys of the undivided lands, survey- 
ed all which had not been previously done, and 
conveyed two ranges of townships on the me- 
ridian line running north from the Monument at the 
source of the St. Croix, and above Mars Hill, to 
a place within a few miles of the river St. John. 
The two grants of Massachusetts made in De- 
-cember 1 807, "to the town of Plymouth, and in 
Jan. 1808, to William Eaton, on the river Aroos- 
took, according to surveys made in 1807, compose 
a part of the ranges. 

In a letter bearing date May 23, 1825, from the 
British minister at Washington to the Secretary of 
of State of the United States, in answer to his of 
the 27th March preceding, complaining of the 
encroachments of the inhabitants of New-Bruns- 
wick, committed upon lands of Maine and Mas- 
sachusetts, in cutting and carrying away tim- 
ber within the boundaries of those States — and 
the places where the trespasses were committed 
were also described in the accompanying papers, 
to be on the Aroostook and Madawaska rivers. 



105 

The British Minister in reply, states, that he had 
made inquiries of Sir Howard Douglass, the Go- 
vernor of New-Brunswick, and had been assured 
by him, that the charge, as far as the Government 
of the provinces was concerned, was unfounded, 
and that he should use his best endeavours to put a 
stop to practices in themselves so disgraceful. It was 
further stated by Sir Howard, " that in assuming 
the Government of New-Brunswick, he found that 
licences to cut timber, and other acts of sove- 
reignty, had long been exercised on the part of 
Great Britain over certain tracts of land in which 
the Bestook," (Aroostook) " and Madawaska were 
included, heretofore, well understood to belong to 
New-Brunswick, but subsequently claimed by the 
Commissioners of the United Slates appointed to ne- 
gotiate with the British Commissioners for adjusting 
the boundary line of the respective provinces : to these 
claims no disposition was ever shewn, on the part 
of Great Britain to accede." 

It is not supposed that Sir Howard intended to 
misrepresent facts, because it would be entirely in- 
consistent with the honourable character which 
he is supposed to sustain ; but acquitted of that 
charge, his representations must be attributed to 
ignorance of the subject, or want of research into 
the premises. Compare the history of the nego- 
tiation of the provisional treaty of peace in 1782, 
the doings of the Commissioners under the fifth ar- 
ticle of the treaty of 1794 — more especially the 
argument of the British agent, and all tho corres- 
H 



106 

poiideuce which preceded the treaty of Ghent, 
wherein the British Commissioners so often and so 
repeatedly ask the country, in which the Mada- 
waska settlement is included as a cession, and are 
so often denied hy the American Commissioners, 
on the ground that they possess no authority to 
make a cession, and no further comment is ne- 
cessary to shew the falsity of his representations. 

It is further said by Sir Howard " In fact by a 
reference to documents in the possession of the 
British Colonial department it appears that the 
settlement at Madavvaska in the province of New 
Brunswick w^asmade under a grant from the Crown 
upwards of thirty years ago, so late as the year 
1810 no claim had been advanced by the United 
States, although the settlement had been esta- 
blished at the time for upwards of twenty years 
under a grant from the Government of New-Bruns- 
wick and had been constantly designated the Mad- 
awaska settlement." 

Admitting the fact, as to the antiquity of the 
settlement to be as stated, giving the utmost 
extent to both modes of expression, it com- 
menced under grants about the year 1790, long 
after the treaty of 1783. Unless the grants 
were within the province of Nova Scotia, they 
were intrusions ; that they were not within the 
province abundantly appears from all the doc- 
uments before quoted in relation to the bounda- 
ries. No valid claim of national sovereignty can 
be based ou such acts in the forum of honour, 



, i>, 



107 

conscience or law. And no jurisdiction can, with 
any semblance of propriety be claimed beyond the 
actual possession ; it cannot without violating the 
acknowledged principles, in such cases be extend- 
ed by construction. If such were die facts and 
the settlements had been made as early as 1790 — 
if the British considered that they had any claim 
to the territory on that account, it is extraordinary, 
that it should have been entirely overlooked by 
the government, its ministers and commissioners, 
and never have been discovered until 1817 or since 
that time ; more especially when the treaty of 
1794 and the discussions under the fifth article of 
it wherein it was conceded that the line due north 
from the source of the St. Croix, wherever it 
should be established, crossed the St. John, to the 
line of the government of Quebec, and by a ref- 
erence to the map it will at once be seen that had 
the most westerly point been adopted which the 
British agent contended for, that the Madawaska 
settlement is west of the meridian and at all events 
within the United States. When also the subject 
of surveying the boundaries had been discussed on 
several occasions between that time and the treaty 
of Ghent, and when also during the whole discus- 
sion which led to that treaty of Ghent, the territory 
is sought as a cession and with great perseverance 
by a resort to every mode which circumstances or 
their own ingenuity suggested. 

But the facts as stated are not admitted, the 
settlement at Madawaska did not .succeed, but 



108 

had proceeded many year?, the grants which Sir 
Howard states, and therefore cannot be said to be 
made under the grants. The setdement was made 
principally by French neutrals, whose ancestors 
had lived near the Bay of Fundy previous to the 
American Revolution. They, to avoid the British 
laws moved up the river St. John to a place called 
St. Anns, now Fredrickton. After the close of the 
war when the British established a town and mili- 
tary post at that place and circumscribed them in 
their quarters, stimulated by their repugnance to 
the British, and desirous of living under their own 
regulations — they pursued their course up the river 
and established themselves at Madawaska where 
they lived many years probably entirely unknown 
to the world — Some of their countrymen joined 
them from Canada — If the settlers or some of them 
now have grants from the Province of New Bruns- 
wick, the reason for making such grants does not 
now appear. The intention of the government 
can be inferred only, from the facts disclosed, from 
which it most clearly follows, that they did not, by 
the intrusion consider themselves as extending 
their rights of property or jurisdiction, not having 
stated the fact for that purpose unld long since 
the treaty of Ghent. If the fact had been relied 
on by them as giving any claim the ministers 
who negotiated, the treaty of Ghent, while they 
were endeavouring by every means in their power 
to obtain the territory in which the Madawaska 



109^ 

settlement is situated by cession, would not have 
been guilty of the omission. 

Sir Howard still further aays " with regard to the 
timber cut by British subjects on the river Bistook 
(Aroostook) the very circumstance of its having 
been seized by Mr. Porter of the State of Maine 
proves that the inhabitants of that State consider 
themselves as at full liberty to appropriate all the 
timber in that district to their own use, In truth 
that territory is especially represented by the Senate 
of Maine as lying within the acknowledged boun- 
daries of that State. Now this is notoriously not 
the fact, the British Government contend that the 
northern boundary line of the United States, run- 
ning from the source of the river St. Croix to the 
highlands is terminated at Mars hill which lies at 
the southwest of the Bistook (Aroostook) at least 
therefore the British territory declared to be the 
undoubted property of the State of Maine is but a 
point in abeyance. Both parties claim and it ap- 
pears have exercised an equal right over it." 

That the British pretended any claim to the ter- 
jitory to the westward of the meridian line from 
the source of the St. Croix and southerly of the 
line of the Province of Quebec or Lower Canada 
was totally unknown to the United States until 
long after the treaty of Ghent and it seems to have 
been equally unknown to the British. The obser- 
vation. " This was notoriously not the fact" can 
only apply to a period subsequent to the treaty, 
when it had been deemed proper by individuals 



no 

and the subordinate Agents of the British Govern- 
ment to acquire by some means the territory which 
they could not demand as a right — The above 
observation does not appear to be true, from any 
thing, which had transpired of a public character, 
between the American and British governments. — 
Such pretended and unfounded claims could not 
have been, and were not anticipated. But after 
all the pretensions, the claim and exercise of right, 
he admits to be equal, which is extraordinary, 
when the whole is taken into consideration and 
contrasted with the recent origin of and bold as- 
sumptions on which they are founded. 

It has already been shown, that Massachusetts 
has made several grants before 1808, some of 
which were on the Aroostook near the meridian 
line, from the monument at the source of the river 
St. Croix, and that she and Maine, had in addition 
to their general jurisdiction, exercised all necessary 
acts of particular jurisdiction. And the British 
subjects found there, committing depredations on 
the timber, by Mr. Porter, were there as mere tres- 
passers not claiming any right or authority from 
any source. It was not until long after this period, 
that any persons were there under licences from 
the Province of New Brunswick, which caused the 
mention of it in the Governor's message in Jan, 
1825. The British claim, as they make it, is even 
void of plausibility, they ought not to have claimed 
the territory upon the Bistook, (Aroostook) and 
upper part of the St. John and its tributary streams. 



Ill 



as a part of the ancient province of Nova Scotia, 
but they ought to have continued the hne from 
Mars hill, eastward to the Bay -of Chaleurs, and 
have insisted that that was the northern Hne, there- 
by yielding a part of Nova Scotia, and have left 
the upper part of the St. John and its tributaries, 
and the Restigouche river, in the province of Que- 
bec or Lower Canada, and if by that means, they 
had violated one of their favourite principles of 
exposition, to wit, that the province which has the 
mouth, ought also to have the sources of the river, 
still the whole would have been within the general 
sovereignty of Great Britain, one pro vi nee onTy gain- 
ing more than the other lost; yet such a claim, 
though more plausible, by relieving them from the 
solecism of destroying the northwest angle, or 
rather converting the northwest angle of Nova 
Scotia into a southwest angle, which can only be 
arrived at, by running first north for more than 
forty miles from the monument, at the source of the 
river St. Croix, and then southwesterly for more 
than one hundred miles, w^ould have been no bet- 
ter, nor would it be based on a more solid or sub- 
stantial authority. 

The British Minister then observes " the Gover- 
nor of New Brunswick informs me, he does not 
consider himself at liberty to alter in any way the 
existing state of things as far as regards the dis- 
trict above mentioned, but he assures me that he 
will take especial care to keep well within the Hm- 
its of the hne of duty marked out for him and con- 



U2 

sidering the shape which this question is now as- 
suming he will feel it imperative on him to apply 
immediately for still more precise instructions lor 
guard ance of his conduct in a matter of so much 
delicacy." 

More notice has been taken of the foregoing 
letter than its importance otherwise demanded, on 
account of its being the first document of an offi- 
cial character in the archives of this State, which 
goes to show the British claim as it had been made 
by their Agent under the fifth article of the treaty 
of Ghent. 

The Secretary of State, Nov. 25th, 1825, wrote 
the Governor of this State, enclosing a copy of a 
note from the British Minister to him, and a copy 
of a note from Sir Howard Douglass to the Brit- 
ish Minister — On the 25th December, 1825, the 
Governor of this State transmitted the Secretary 
of State of the United States, a letter with a copy 
of the resolve of this State respecting the settlers 
on the St. John and the Madawaska rivers under 
which the Agent of the State acted — a copy of the 
resolve of the Legislature of Massachusetts res- 
pecting the same — jalso the report of the land 
Agent of Maine, detailing particularly the transac- 
tions of the two Agents under said resolves — From 
which report it appears that the land Agents had 
pursued the authority, given them by the resolves, 
and had not done some of the acts complained of 
by the British. 

The subject of the northeastern boundary was 






113 

again noticed by the Governor in his message to 
both branches of the Legislature the 7th Jan. 
1826, which was answered by the Legislature in a 
report on the 17th January, and a resolve on the 
26th of January of the same year. " That the 
Governor for the time being, be authorized and 
requested, to take such measures as he may think 
expedient and effectual to procure for the use of 
the State, copies of all such maps, documents, 
publications, papers and surveys, relating to the 
northeastern boundary of the United States, des- 
cribed in the treaty of 1783, and such other infor- 
mation on that subject as he may deem necessary 
and useful for this State to be possessed of." 

" That the Governor of this State in conjunction 
with the Governor of Massachusetts, (pro\^i<i«d the 
said Commonwealth shall concur in the measure) 
be authorized to cause the eastern and northeast- 
ern lines of the State of Maine to be explored, and 
the monuments upon these lines mentioned in the 
treaty of 1783, to be ascertained in such a manner 
as may he deemed most expedient." 

The surveys of the unappropriated lands of 
Maine and Massachusetts, were continued and five 
ranges of townships were surveyed, and extending 
from the line drawn west from the monument and 
extending from that line to Fish river and near the 
river St. John. 

The Fish river road extending from the east 
branch of the Penobscot river, northwardly to Fish 
15 



114 

river, was laid out also under the authority of the 
States. 

The resolve was communicated to the Senators 
of this State in the Congress of the United States, 
and enclosed by the Governor on the day of its 
passage. And there was procured, in consequence 
of 'it, a copy of the general map compiled by the 
United States' surveyors, from surveys made under 
the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent. 

The subject was again presented to both branch- 
es of the Legislature by the Governor, in his mes- 
sage, on the 4th of January, 1827 — And the Go- 
vernor also by special message communicated a 
letter, from the Secretary of vState of the United 
States, dated January 29th, of the same year, 
accompanied by a letter of Charles R. Vaughan, 
Esq. the British Minister, dated Jan. 7, 1827, 
wherein he complains of the acts of Maine and 
Massachusetts, in surveying and laying out town- 
ships and roads, and concludes by saying, " I think 
it adviseable to make you acquainted without de- 
lay with the communication which I have received 
from tlie Lieut. Governor of New Brunswick, whom 
I beg leave to assure you cautiously abstains on 
his part from exercising any authority in the dis- 
puted territory which could invite encroachments 
as a measure of retaliation." All which were con- 
sidered and became the subject of a report in the 
Legislature on the 12th day of February, 1 827, and 
a Resolve was passed thereon, on the 23d day of 
the same month, Respecting the Northeastern boun- 
dary of the State, to wit. — 



115 

" Resolved, That the Governor be, and he is 
hereby requested to take all such measures, both 
in acquiring information and in procuring a speedy 
adjustment of the dispute according to the treaty 
of 1783 as he may deem expedient and for the in- 
terest of the State." 

To this, period, nothing of any importance had 
been obtained under the Resolves of the State al- 
though they had been regularly communicated, and 
all the information, which v^^as in possession of the 
government of this State consisted, in a few and 
very few copies of letters from the British Minis- 
ter, which had been elicited by the resolves of the 
State of Maine ; and beyond that there was no 
official information of the proceedings of the com- 
mission under the fifth article of the treaty of 
Ghent, nor the claims set up by the British, except 
what was derived from public reports, vague in their 
nature and uncertain in their character. It was 
not until long after the commissioners had ter- 
minated their labours, that any official communi- 
cation was made, which tended to shew the Bri- 
tish Claim, and even that from the looseness of 
its phraseology seemed to convey, no other distinct 
idea, than that, the British, from causes known to 
themselves, claimed all the country north and west 
of Mars hill, as a part of the ancient province of 
Nova Scotia, and even that did not appear until 
near the middle of the year 1825. The delay to 
give information to the State of Maine, when it 
had been so often requested particularly in the let- 



116 

ter of the Governor, of July 1820, to the execu- 
tive of the United States, containing a request 
that some one might be added from the State of 
Maine to assist in the examination of the subject 
and considering that the sovereignty of the whole 
country to which the British had, in such an ex- 
traordinary manner and so contrary to the dis- 
cussions which preceded the treaty of Ghent, pre- 
tended a claim was in Maine, and that the go- 
vernment of the United States had no constitu- 
tional authority to cede any portion of an inde- 
pendent sovereignty, directly or by construction, 
is certainly very extraordinary, — and it cannot fail 
to appear extraordinary that the same policy on 
the part of the government of the United States 
should be continued, when by uniting Maine in the 
controversy all reasonable ground of complaint on 
her part would have been removed, at least, if she 
had in her sovereign capacity engaged in the con- 
troversy, she must have been concluded by the re- 
sult. If she had mismanaged her concerns that 
could never have been brought up as a reasona- 
ble cause of complaint against the United States. 
Maine as she was in a state of profound ignorance 
had no opportunity to aid or assist the United 
States nor does she claim that she has a right to 
interfere in the course its government chooses 
to adopt, but she has the right of reading the 
constitution of the United States, of judging for 
herself, and if she is deprived of the exercise of 
her sovereignty and her property, she has a right 



117 

to remonstrate and assert her rights, and by force 
of the original compact she is entitled to the aid 
and assistance of the independent sovereignties 
constituting the United States, to reinstate her in 
that of which she may have been deprived, by an 
unjust and unconstitutional exercise of power. 

The promptness, decision, perseverance and 
ability with which the Governor has executed the 
request contained in the last resolve, merits the 
encomiums and approbation of the State. If fur- 
ther comment were necessary, the fact that all the 
information which had been so long, but unsuccess- 
fully sought, was obtained, speaks a language more 
satisfactory to him and the State, than any thing 
we could add. As to the positions taken and main- 
tained by the Governor, they must be in accord- 
ance with the views and common sense of the 
State, and we cannot present his discussions in a 
clearer or more acceptable light, than to request 
a fair, candid and impartial examination of them. 
With these remarks and without further comment, 
the correspondence between him and the govern- 
ment of the United States is annexed. 

Thus we have detailed at some length, the prin- 
cipal facts and circumstances touching the title and 
the extent of the title of the State to territory and 
jurisdiction, from which it appears, that our title 
is perfect to all the territory bounded by the south- 
ern line of the province of Lower Canada, to wit, 
by the line drawn from the head of Connecticut 
river, along the lands, which limit the sources of 



118 

the rivers, that fall into the river St. Lawrence, 
to the head of the bay of Chaleurs, and westward 
of the line drawn due north from the source of 
the river St. Croix to that line, being the line de- 
scribed and adopted by the British Government 
long before the revolution and being the lines 
which are also described and adopted by the provis- 
ional, and definitive treaties of peace. — That the 
British government have always, directly and in- 
directly conceded our title, in all the negotiations 
and discussions on the subject prior to the discus- 
sions under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, 
and made no claim of title founded on any intru- 
sion of theirs, the ministers, who sought it as a 
cession, not having urged or even stated the fact, 
except by way of alkision, and that Massachu- 
setts and Maine have always exercised jurisdic- 
tion according to the title of Maine and have con- 
tinued their progress of surveys, sales and settle- 
ments, and other acts, and that the United States 
have always exercised general jurisdiction and did 
in 1820 exercise acts of jurisdiction as far as there 
was any occasion for it : — That there was no rea- 
son, from any knowledge in possession of the 
United States, until very recently, and still m*;re 
recently in possession of this State, more imme- 
diately interested, to suppose, that, if the British 
Government had crossed the above described lines, 
she would not, as soon as the lines were surveyed, 
withdraw and cease to commit like acts of intru- 
sion ; and it has also a[)peared from representa- 



119 

tions made by the British Minister to the Secre- 
tary of State, " that the Lieutenant Governor of 
New-Brunswick had given assurances that he 
would cautiously abstain from all acts of authority 
which could invite encroachments as a measure of 
retaliation." 

But notwithstanding all these facts, circumstan- 
ces and assurances, John Baker, a citizen of the 
State of Maine and the United States, was arrest- 
ed in his own dwelling house, situated on the land 
he purchased of, and holds by the deed from Mas- 
sachusetts and Maine, on a warrant and other pro- 
cess served by the Sheriff of the county of York, 
accompanied by armed men and in the night time, at 
least before Baker had risen from his bed, and 
was carried to Frederickton and thrown into pri- 
son where he is now confined. Processes have 
also been served, within our territory, on the Aroos- 
took, and the cattle and property of our citizens 
have been taken away by the civil officers of New 
Brunswick. Baker is charged among other things, 
with an intrusion and trespass on the premises he 
holds under Massachusetts and Maine. 

When the Governor of this State had received 
notice that the sovereignty of the State, by the 
officer of the government of New-Brunsv/ick, had 
been violated, in the abduction and imprisonment 
of one of its citizens and other acts, he issued his 
proclamation, and commissioned an agent of the 
State to proceed to the province of New-Bruns- 
wick, to enquire into the cause of the arrest and 



120 

the other violations of the State sovereignty, and 
to demand of the Government of New-Brunswick 
the restoration of Baker ; all which will more ful- 
ly appear in the documents annexed. The Go- 
vernor has in this, with his usual promptness, dis- 
cretion and ability performed his duty to the State 
and its citizens. The agent in prosecution of the 
object of his commission proceeded to Frederick- 
ton the capital of New-Brunswick, and notified 
the government of his arrival and official capaci- 
ty. He was not received in his official capacity. 
From what cause that arose, whether from their 
own policy or their misconstruction of the power 
and authority of the Governor of this State, is 
not certain. It seems to us there would have been 
no objection to the recognition of the agent of 
this State, had his commission been only to demand a 
fugitive from justice, or that the Governor of New 
Brunswick would consider, that he was transcend- 
ing his power, were he to send an agent to this 
State to demand a fugitive from his own govern- 
ment. Notwithstanding he was not received in 
an official character, we are happy to have it in 
our power to say, that he was politely received by 
the gentlemen of the place. The object of his 
agency, therefore, so far as it related to the arrest 
and imprisonment of Baker, totally failed, as it 
did also in some other respects. 

His official capacity embraced two objects. 

1st. To demand a delivery of persons. 



121 

2d. To obtain public information. 

If not recognized for any other purpose, he might 
have been permitted as a person authorized to in- 
quire into the truth of facts, important to the rights 
of the people of the State and peace of the 
country. 

From all the facts, we cannot perceive on what 
ground they can justify the violation of the State 
and National sovereignty in the arrest of Baker, 
on his own soil and freehold, which he holds in 
fee under the States of Massachusetts and Maine, 
and the other acts of their officers on the Aroos- 
took. On the ground of title they have no justi- 
fication, and they can only justify themselves on 
the ground of a possession de facto, which cannot 
by the acknowledged principles of law be extend- 
ed beyond actual occupation. In the case of Ba- 
ker the settlement on his lot was commenced not 
within even a possession de facto, feeble and slen- 
der as that would be ; and in relation to the Aroos- 
took there is not even a possession of any kind, 
unless it has been acquired by the lawless depre- 
dations of individuals for which they have, from 
time to time j atoned by settlements with the agents 
of the State of Maine. Eveii the few, who have 
settled on the Aroostook, settled there considering 
it to be within this State and intending also to 
settle out of the province of New-Brunswick. The 
course pursued by the British must be accounted 
for on another principle, than " a cautious absti- 
16 



122 

nence of the exercise of autlionty which could in- 
vite encroachments as a measure of retaliation." 

When the British are thus attempting to extend 
their intrusion and imprisoning and otherwise har- 
rassing by legal process citizens of Maine, they 
have constitutional claims on her protection ; and 
although Massachusetts and Maine from the treaty 
of peace have exercised the same jurisdiction over 
all the wild lands which had not been particularly 
appropriated for cultivation to this time ; if such 
acts are repeated it cannot be expected that Maine 
will be a quiet spectator. It will be her duty to 
enforce her laws within her own jurisdiction, and 
to protect her own rights and the rights of her 
citizens. 

The Government of the United States have a 
duty to perform towards the State, and its citizens, 
not less towards those who are forcibly taken from 
the territory, and imprisoned, than towards those 
who are taken from the national marine. An agent 
has been sent to the province of New-Brunswick 
who has returned, and we have a confidence that 
the whole business will be adjusted, and that the 
constitutional rights of the State and the liberties 
and rights of the citizens will be protected and pre- 
served. 

Your Committee impressed with the importance 
of the subject to this state and the United States, 
and approving most cordially, of the measures tak- 
en by the Governor, believe from the past, thfit the 
State has a well founded assurance that its best 



123 

interests will be protected and its constitutional 

rights preserved. 

JOHN L. MEGQUIER, 
REUEL WILLIAMS, 
JOSHUA W. HATHAWAY, 
JOHN G. DEANE, 
HENRY W. FULLER, 
WILLIAM VANCE, 
JOSHUA CARPENTER, 
RUFUS BURNHAM. 

STATE OF MAINE. 

House of Representatives, Jan. 26, 1828. 

All which with the annexed Resolve and Docu- 
ments is respectfully submitted by Order of the 
Committee. 

JOHN G. DEANE. 



House of Representatives, Feb. 14, 1828. 
This Report was read, considered, and unanimously accepted- 
Sent up for concurrence. 

JOHN RUGGLES, Speaker. 

Attest, JAMES L. CHILD, Clerk of the House of Representatives. 



In Senate, Feb. 16, 1828. 
This Report was read, considered, and unanimously accepted, 
in concurrence with the House of Representatives. 

ROBERT P. DUNLAP, President 
Attest, BBENEZER HUTCHINSON, Secretary of the Senate. 



124 



STATE OF MAINE. 



A, Resolve relating to the North-Eastern Boundary. 

Resolved, That the Governor be, and he hereby is requested t© 
transmit a copy of the Report of the Committee, to whom was 
referred so much of his communication, made to the Legislature, 
as relates to the North-Eastern Boundary of this State, to the 
President of the United States, to the Governor of each State in 
the Union, and two copies to each of our Senators and Represen- 
tatives in Congress, and each of our foreign Ambassadors; and 
that one hundred and fifty copies be at the disposal of the Go- 
vernor. 

In the House of Representatives, Feb. J 6, 1828. 
Read and passed. 

JOHN RUGGLES, Speaker. 
Attest— JAMES L. CHILD, Clerk. 

IN SENATE, Feb. 18, 1828. 
Read and passed. 

ROBERT P. DUNLAP, President. 
Attest— EBENEZER HUTCHINSON, Secretary. 

February 18, 1828 Approved. 

ENOCH LINCOLN. 



APPENDIX. 

]Vo. 1. 

An Extract from the grant of James \st, to Sir William Alex- 
ander, (afterwards Lord Sterling,) passed Sejjtember 10, 1621. 

We do by these presents give, grant and convey 
to the said Sir William Alexander his heirs and 
assigns, all and singular the lands upon the Conti- 
nent, and the Islands situate, lying, and being in 
America, within the head or promontory commonly 
called Cape Sable, in the latitude of forty-three 
degrees, nearly or thereabouts, from that promon- 
tory along the shore, stretching to the west to the 
Bay commonly called St. Mary's Bay, thence to 
the north by a direct line crossing the entrance or 
mouth of the great Bay, which extends eastward, 
between the countries of the Siroquois and Etche- 
mins, so commonly called, to the river commonly 
called by the name of the Holy Cross, or the 
Saint Croix, and to the furthest source or spring, 
upon the western branch of the same, which first 
mingles its waters with those of the said river; 
thence by an imaginary direct line, to be drawn or 
run through the country, or over the land, to the 
north, to the first bay, river or spring emptying itself 
into the great river of Canada ; and from thence run- 
ning to the east, along the shores of the said river 
of Canada; to the river, bay or harbour, commonly 



J 26 

called and known by the name of Gachepe or Gas* 
pee, and from thence southeast to the Islands call- 
ed Baccalaos or Cape Breton, leaving the same 
Islands upon the right, and the Gulf of the said 
river or bay of Canada and Newfoundland, with 
the Islands thereunto belonging, upon the left ; and 
from thence to the head or promontory of Cape 
Breton aforesaid, lying near the latitude of forty- 
five degrees or thereabouts, and from the said 
promontory of Cape Breton, to the southward and 
westward to Cape Sable aforesaid, the place of 
beginning, including and comprehending within the 
said coasts and shores of the sea, and the circum- 
ferences thereof from sea to sea, all the lands upon 
the Continent, with the rivers, torrents, bays, shores, 
islands or seas, lying near to, or within six leagues 
from any part thereof on the western, northern, or 
eastern parts of the said coasts and precincts of 
the same, and to the southeast where Cape Breton 
lies, and to the southward thereof where Cape Sa- 
ble lies, all the seas and islands, to the south, with- 
in forty leagues of the said shores, including the 
great island commonly called the Isle of Sable or 
Sablon, lying south-south-east in the ocean, about 
thirty leagues from Cape Breton aforesaid, and 
being in the latitude of forty-four degrees, or there' 
abouts. 

All which lands aforesaid, shall at all times here- 
after be called and known by the name of Nova 
Scotia or New Scotland, in America. x4nd if any 
questions or doubts shall hereafter arise upon the 



127 

interpretation or construction of any clause in the 
present letters patent contained, they shall all be 
taken and interpreted in the most extensive sense, 
and in favour of the said Sir William Alexander, 
his heirs and assigns aforesaid. Moreover, we, of 
our certain knowledge, our own proper motion, 
regal authority, and royal power, have made, unit- 
ed, annexed, erected, created and incorporated, 
and we do, by these our letters patent, make, unite, 
annex, erect, create, and incorporate the whole 
and entire province and lands of Nova Scotia 
aforesaid, with all the limits thereof, seas, &c. : 
officers and jurisdictions, and all other things gen- 
erally and specially abovementioned, into one en- 
tire and free dominion and barony, to be called at 
all times hereafter by the aforesaid name of Nova 
Scotia. 



No. 2. 



Zhtract from the grant of Charles the 'II, to Ja^ns, Dvke of 
York, dated I2th of March, 1<)63 

Know ye that w^e, for divers good causes, &c. 
have, &:c. and by thess presents. Sec. do give and 
grant unto our dearest brother, James, Duke of 
York, his heirs and assigns, all that part of the 
main land of New En2;land, be^-inninsf at a certain 
place, called or known by the name of St. Croix, 
next adjoining to New Scotland, in America ; and 
from thence extending along the sea coast unto a 



128 

certain place called Pemaquie or Pemaquid, and 
so up the river thereof, to the farthest head of the 
same as it tendeth northward ; and extending from 
thence to the river Kimbequin, and so upwards, by 
the shortest course to the river of Canada, north- 
ward. And also all that island or islands commonly 
called by the several name or names of Matowacks 
or Long Island, situate, lying and being towards the 
west of Cape Cod and the Narrow Higansets, 
abutting upon the main land between the two riv- 
ers, there called or known by the several names of 
Connecticut and Hudson's river ; together, also, 
with the said river, called Hudson's river, and all 
the lands from the west side of Connecticut river, 
to the east side of Delaware bay. And also all 
those several islands, called or known by the 
names of Martin's Vineyard, and Nantukes, or 
otherwise Nantucket. 



No. 3. 



Extract from the charter of the Province of the Masxachisetts 
hay, in Neiv-England, dated 7th October, 1C91, '3d William 
<5' 3Iary. 

William and Mary, by the grace of God, King 
and Queen of England, Scotland, France, and 
Ireland, defenders of the faith, &c. to all to whom 
these presents shall come, Greeting : We do by 
these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, 
will and ordain, that the territories and colonies, 



1 



129 

commonly called or known by the names of the 
colony of the Massachusetts Bay and colony of 
New IPlymouth, the province of Maine, and the ter- 
ritory, called Acadia or Nova Scotia, and all that 
tract of land, lying between the said territories of 
Nova Scotia, and the said province of Maine, be 
erected, united and incorporated ; and we do, by 
these presents, unite, erect, and incorporate the 
same into one real province, by the name of our 
province of the Massachusetts Bay in New-Eng- 
land ; and of our especial grace, certain knowl- 
edge, and mere motion, we have given and grant- 
ed, and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and 
successors, do give and grant, unto our good sub- 
jects, the inhabitants of our said province or ter- 
ritory of Massachusetts Bay, and their successors, 
all that part of New-England in America, lying 
and extending from the Great River, commonly 
called Monomack, alias Merrimack, on the north 
part, and from three miles northward of the said 
river to the Atlantic, or western sea or Ocean, on 
the south part and all the lands and hereditaments 
whatever, lying within the limits aforesaid, and ex- 
tending as far as the outermost points or promon- 
tories of land called Cape Cod and Cape Malabar, 
north and south, and in latitude, breadth, and in 
length, and longitude, of and within all the breadth 
and compass aforesaid, throughout the main land 
there, from the said Atlantic or western sea and 
ocean, on the east part, towards the south sea, or 
westward, as far as our colonies of Rhode Island, 
17 



130 

Connecticut, and the Naragansett country ; and, 
also, all that part and portion of Maine land, be- 
ginning at the entrance of Piscataqua harbour, and 
so to pass up the same into the river of Newich- 
wannock, and through the same into the farthest 
head thereof, and from thence northwestward, till 
one hundred and twenty miles be finished, and 
from Piscataqua harbour mouth aforesaid, north- 
eastward along the sea coast to Sagadehock,* and 
from the period of one hundred and tv/enty miles 
aforesaid, to cross over land from Piscataqua har- 
bour, through Newichwannock river ; and also the 
north half of the Isles of Shoals, together with the 
Isles of Capawack and Nantucket, near Cape Cod 
aforesaid ; and also the lands and hereditaments ly- 
ing and being in the country or territory common- 
ly called Acadie, or Nova Scotia, and all those 
lands and hereditaments lying and extending be- 
tween the said country or territory of Nova Scotia, 
and the said river of Sagadehock, or any part 
thereof. 

That it shall and may be lawful for the said Go- 

* The following words, viz, " and up the river thereof to the 
Knybecky river, and through the same to the head thereof, and 
unto the land northwestward, until one hundred and twenty miles 
be ended, being accounted from the mouth of Sagadehock," as 
inserted in Gorge's grants (from which the descriptive part of 
the boundaries ^of Maine in this charter is taken,) appear to 
have been inadvertently omitted, being necessary to render those 
boundaries intelligible ; and should follow the word Sagadehock, 
to which the asterisk is affixed. 



131 

vernor and general assembly to make or pass any 
grant of lands lying within the bounds of the colo- 
nies formerly called the colonies of the Massachu- 
setts Bay, and New-Plymouth, and province of 
Maine, in such manner as heretofore they might 
have done by virtue of any former charter or let- 
ters patent ; which grants of lands, within the 
bounds aforesaid we do hereby will and ordain to 
be and continue forever of full force and effect, 
without our further approbation or consent. And 
so as nevertheless, and it is our royal will and plea- 
sure, that no grant or grants of any lands lying or 
extending from the river of Sagadehock to the 
gulf of St. Lawrence and Canada rivers, and to 
the main sea northward and eastward, to be made 
or past by the Governor and general assembly of 
our said province, be of any force, validity, or ef- 
fect, until we, our heirs, or successors, shall have 
signified our approbation of the same. 



No. 4. 



Copy of Col. Phillipps' Commission for the Government of No- 
va Sootia — 1719. 

George by the Grace of God, &c. — To our trus- 
ty and well beloved Richard Phillipps, Esq. Greet- 
ing: 

Know ye that we reposing especial trust and 
confidence in the prudence, courage, and loyalty 
of you the said Richard Phillipps, out of our es- 



132 

pecial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, 
have thought fit to constitute and appoint^ and by 
these presents do constitute and appoint you the 
said Richard Philhpps, to be our Governor of Pla- 
centia in Newfoundland ; and our Captain Gene- 
ral and Governor in chief in and over our province 
of Nova Scotia or Acadie in America : and we do 
hereby require and command you to do and exe- 
cute all things in due manner that shall belong 
unto your said command, and the trust we have 
reposed in you, according to the several powers 
and directions granted or appointed you by this 
present Commission, and the instructions herewith 
given you, or by such further powers, instructions, 
or authorities as shall at any time hereafter be 
granted or appointed you, under our signet and sign 
manual or by our order in our Privy Council, and 
according to such reasonable Laws and Statutes, 
as shall hereafter be made and assented to by you, 
with the advice and consent of our Council and 
Assembly of our said Province, hereafter to be ap- 
pointed. 

And for the better Administration of Justice and 
management of the public affiiirs of our said Pro- 
vince, We hereby give and grant unto you the 
said Richard Phillipps full power and authority to 
choose, nominate, and appoint such fitting and dis- 
creet persons as you shall either find there or 
carry along with you, not exceeding the number 
of twelve to be of our Council in our said Pro- 



133 

vince, till our further pleasure be known, any five 
whereof we do hereby appoint to be a quorum. 



No. 5. 



Dratight of a Commission for the Hon. Col. Cornwallis to be 
Governor of Nova Scotia — April 29, 1749. 

George the Second by the Grace of God, of 
Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defend- 
er of the faith, &c. To our trusty and well be- 
loved the Hon. Edward Cornwallis, Esq. Greeting. 
Whereas we did by our Letters Patent under our 
great seal of Great Britain bearing date at West- 
minster the 11th day of September in the second 
year of our reign, constitute and appoint Richard 
Phillipps, Esq. our Captain General and Governor 
in Chief, in and over our Province of Nova Sco- 
tia or Acadie in America with all rights, members 
and appurtenances whatever thereunto belonging 
for, and during our will and pleasure, as by the 
said recited Letters Patent relation being thereun- 
to had, may more fully and at large appear : now 
know you that we have revoked and determined, 
and by these presents, do revoke and determine, 
the said recited Letters Patent and every clause, 
article and thing therein contained ; and further 
know you, that we, reposing especial trust and 
confidence in the prudence, courage and loyalty 
of you the said Edward Cornwallis, of our especial 
grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, have 



134 

thought fit to constitute and appoint, and by these 
presents do constitute and appoint you the said 
Richard Cornwallis to be our Captain General 
and Governor in Chief in and over the Province of 
Nova Scotia or Acadte in America, vi^ith all the 
rights, members and appurtenances whatever there- 
unto belonging. 

18t'h March 1752. The Commission given to 
Peregrine Thomas Hopson, as Governor of the 
Province of Nova Scotia is the same, mutatis mu- 
tandis, as that given to Edward Cornwallis, Esq. 



No. 6. 



Extract from the Prodmnation of the King of Great Britain, 
of the 1th of October, 1763, establishing four governments. 

by the king, a proclamation. 

George R. 

Whereas we have taken into our royal consid- 
eration the extensive and valuable acquisitions in 
America, secured to our Crown, by the late definitive 
treaty of peace, concluded at Paris the 10th day of 
February last; and being desirous that all our loving 
subjects, as well of our kingdoms, as of our colonies 
in America, may avail themselves, with all convenient 
speed, of the great benefits and advantages which 
must accrue therefrom to their commerce, manu- 
factures, and navigation ; we have thought fit, with 
the advice of our privy council, to issue this our 



135 

royal proclamation, hereby to publish and declare 
to all our loving subjects, that we have, vv^ith the 
advice of our said privy council, granted our let- 
ters patent under our great seal of Great Britain,^ 
to erect within the countries and islands, ceded 
and confirmed to us by the said treaty, four dis- 
tinct and separate governments, styled and called 
by the names of Quebec, East Florida, West Flo- 
rida, and Grenada, and limited and bounded as fol- 
lows, viz. 

First, the government of Quebec, bounded on 
the Labrador coast by the river St. John, and from 
thence by a line drawn from the head of that 
river, through the lake St. John, to the south end 
of the lake Nipissim ; from thence the said hne 
crossing the river St. Lawrence and the lake 
Champlain in forty-five degrees of north latitude, 
passes along the highlands which divide the rivers 
that empty themselves into the said St. Lawrence Jrom 
those which fall into the sea ; and also along the 
north coast of the Baye des Chaleurs, and the 
coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Ros- 
ieres, and from thence, crossing the mouth of 
the river St. Lawrence, by "the west end of the 
island of Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid riv- 
er St. John. 

Representation to his Majesty with the draught 
of a commission for Charles Lawrence, Esq. to be 
Governor of Nova Scotia. 
To the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 

May it please Your Majesty. 

In obedience to your Majesty's Order in Coun- 



1S6 

cil, dated the 18th inst. we have prepared the 
draught of a commission for Charles Lawrence, 
Esq. to be Captain General and Governor in chief 
of your Majesty's Province of Nova Scotia, in 
America, which being in the usual form, we here- 
with humbly lay it before your Majesty, and shall 
prepare the necessary instructions for him with all 
possible dispatch. 

Which is most humbly submitted. 

(signed) DUNK HALIFAX, 
J. PITT, 

JAMES OSWALD, 
ANDREW STONE. 
Whitehall, Dec. 18, 1755. 



]Vo. 7. 



Governor Ellis's Commission, April \, 1761. 

George the third by the Grace of God, of Great 
Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the 
Faith, &:c. To our Trusty and well beloved Hen- 
ry Ellis, Esq. Greeting. Whereas our late Royal 
Grandfather of blessed memory, did by his Letters 
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain bear- 
ing date at Westminster the of in the 
year of His Reign, constitute and appoint 
Charles Lawrence, Esq. Captain General and Go- 
vernor in Chief, in and over our Province of Nova 
Scotia or Acadie in America, with all the Rights, 



137 

Members and appurtenances whatever thereunto 
belonging for and during His late Majesty's Will 
and Pleasure, as by the said recited Letters Pa- 
tent, relation being thereunto had, may more fully 
and at large appear : Now know you that We 
have revoked and determined, and by these Pre- 
sents, do revoke and determine, the said recited 
Letters Patent, and every clause, article and thing 
therein contained, and further know you that We, 
reposing especial Trust and confidence in the Pru- 
dence, Courage and Loyalty of you the said Henry 
Elhs, Esq. of our Especial Grace, certain know- 
ledge and mere motion, have thought fit to consti- 
tute and appoint and by these presents do consti- 
tute and appoint you the said Henry Ellis to be 
our Captain General and Governor in Chief, in 
and over our Province of Nova Scotia or Acadie 
in America, with all the Rights, Members and ap- 
purtenances whatever thereunto belonging. 



No. 8. 



DraugJd of a Commission for Montague Wilmot, Esq. to he Gor- 
vernor of Nova Scotia, dated October, 1763. 

George the third by the Grace of God, of Great 
Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of 
the Faith, &c. To our Trusty and well beloved 
Montague Wilmot, Esq. Greeting. — Whereas we did 
by our Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great 
Britain dated at Westminster the day of 
18 



138 

111 the tirstyear of our Reign, constitute and ap- 
point Henry Ellis, Esq. Captain General and Gover- 
nor in Chief, in and over our Province of Nova Scotia 
or Acadie in America, with all the Rights, Mem- 
bers and Appurtenances thereunto belonging for 
and during our v/ill and pleasure, as by the said 
recited Letters Patent, relation being thereunto 
had, may more fully and at large appear : Nov^r 
know you that we have revoked and determined 
and by these Presents do revoke and determine 
the said recited Letters Patent and every clause, 
article and thing therein contained. 

And further know you, that We, reposing espe- 
cial Trust and confidence in the Prudence, Cour- 
age and Loyalty of you the said Montague Wilmot, 
of our especial Grace, certain knowledge and mere 
motion, have thought fit to constitute and appoint, 
and by these Presents, We do constitute and ap- 
point you, the said Montague Wilmot to be our 
Captain General and Governor in Chief in and 
over our Province of Nova Scotia, brunded on the 
Westward by a line drawn from Cape Sable across 
the entrance of the Bay of Fundy, to the mouth of 
the river St. Croix, by the said river to its source 
and by a line drawn due North from thence to the 
Southern Boundary of Our Province of Quebec, to 
the Northward by the same boundary as far as the 
Western extremity of the Baye des Chaleurs : To 
the Eastward by the said Bay and the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence to the cape or promontory called Cape 
Breton, in the Island of the same name, including 



that Island, the Island of St. Johns, and all othei- 
Islands within six Leagues of the coast, and to the 
southward by the Atlantic Ocean from said Cape 
to Cape Sable aforesaid, including the Island of 
that name and all other Islands within forty leagues 
of the coast, with all the Rights, Members and ap- 
purtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging. 



No. 9. 



Governor Legges' Commission. 

George the third, by the Grace of God, of Great 
Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of 
the Faith, &c. — To our trusty and well beloved 
Francis Legge, Esq. Greeting : 

Whereas, we did, by our letters patent, under our 
great seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West' 
minster, the eleventh day of August, in the sixth 
year of our reign — constitute and appoint William 
Campbell, Esq. commonly called Lord William 
Campbell, Captain General and Governor in 
Chief, in and over our Province of Nova Scotia, in, 
America, bounded on the westward by a line drawn 
from Cape Sable across the entrance of the bay of 
Fundy, to the mouth of the river St. Croix, by said 
river to its source, and by a line drawn due north 
from thence to the southern boundary of our Colony 
of Quebec. To the northward by the said boundary, 
as far as the western extremity of the Baye des Cha- 



140 

ieurs. To the eastward by the said bay and the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, to the cape or promontory called 
Cape Breton, in the island of that name, including 
that island, the island of Saint John, and all other 
islands within six leagues of the coast ; and to the 
southward by the Atlantic Ocean, from the said 
cape to Cape Sable aforesaid, including the island 
of that name, and all other islands within forty 
leagues of the coast, with all the Rights, Members 
and Appurtenances, whatsoever, thereunto belong- 
ing, for and during our will and pleasure, as by the 
said recited Letters Patent, relation being there- 
unto had, may more fully and at large appear; 
now, know you, that we have revoked and deter- 
mined, and by these presents do revoke and deter- 
mine, the said recited Letters Patent, and every 
clause, article and thing therein contained, and 
further. Know you that We, reposing especial con- 
fidence and trust in the prudence, courage and 
loyalty of you, the said Francis Legge, of our 
especial j'^race, certain knowledge and mere mo- 
tion. We have thought fit to constitute and appoint 
you, the said Francis Legge, to be our Captain 
Genera^ ^nd Governor in Chief of our said Pro- 
vince ol -lova Scotia, bounded on the westward by 
a hue drawn from Cape Sable across the entrance 
of the Bay of Funriv, to the mouth of the river St. 
Croix, by the said river to its source, and by a line 
dr&vvn due north from thence to the southern 
boundary of our colony of Quebec : To the north- 



141 

ward by the said boundary, as far as the western 
extremity of the Bay des Chaleurs. To the east- 
ward, by the said Bay, and the Gulf of St. Law ■ 
rence, to the cape or promontory — called Cape 
Breton, in the island of that name including that 
island and all other islands ivithin six leagues of the 
coasi, excepting our said island of St. Jol n, which 
we have thought fit to erect into a separate go- 
vernment; and to the southward by the Atlantic 
Ocean, from the said cape to Cape Sable afore- 
said, including the island of that name, and all 
other islands within forty leagues of the coast. 
With all the rights, members and appurtenances 
whatsoever, thereunto belonging. 

And we do hereby require and command you to 
do and execute all things in due manner, that shall 
belong unto your said command, and the trust we 
have reposed in you according to the several pow- 
ers and authorities granted or appointed you by 
the present Commission, and the instructions here- 
with given you or by such further powers, instruc- 
tions and authorities, as shall at any time hereafter 
be granted or appointed you under our signet and 
Sign Manual, or by our order in our Privy Council, 
and according to such reasonable Laws and Sta- 
I tutes as are now in force, or shall hereafter be 
1 made or agreed upon by you, with the advice and 
( consent of our Council, and the assembly of our 
■^said Province under your government, in such 
|! manner and form as is hereafter expressed. 



14« 



JVo. 10. 



The act of the British Parliament of the \Ath year of George od 
1774^ relating to the province of Quebec, provides as follows : 

Tliat all the territories, Islands and Counties in 
North America belonging to the Crown of Great 
Britain bounded on the south by a line from the 
Bay of Chalours along the highlands which divide 
the rivers which empty themselves into the river 
St. Lawrence from those which fall into the sea ; 
to a point in the 45th degree of North Latitude on 
the eastern branch of the river Connecticut, keep- 
ing the same latitude directly west through Lake 
Chanaplain, until in the same latitude it meets the 
river St. Lawrence, from thence up the eastern 
bank of said river to Lcke Ontario, thence through 
the Lake Ontario and the river commonly called 
Niagara, and thence along by the eastern and south- 
eastern bank of Lake Erie, following the said bank 
until the same shall be intersected by the northern 
boundary granted by the Charter of the Province 
of Pennsylvania in case the same shall be so inter- 
sected, and from thence along the said north and 
west boundary of the paid Province, until the said 
western boundary strikes the Ohio ; but in case 
the said bank of said Lake shall not be found to 
be so intersected, then following the said bank until 
it shall arrive at that point of the said bank which 
shall be nearest to the northwest angle of the said 
Province, of Pennsylvania, and thence by a right 






143 

^ne to the said northwest angle of said Province, 
and thence along the western boundary of said Pro- 
vince until it strikes the Ohio, and along the bank 
of the said river westward to the bank of the Mis- 
sissippi, and north to the southern boundary of the 
territory granted to the Merchant's adventurers of 
England trading to Hudson's Bay; and also all 
such territories, islands and countries which have 
since the tenth day of February 1763, been made 
part of the Government of Newfoundland, be and 
they are hereby during His Majesty's pleasure, 
annexed to and made a part of the Province of Que- 
bec, as created and established by the said Royal 
Proclamation of the 7th of October, 1763. 



No. 11. 



Extract from the British Agent's argument before the Commis- 
sioners under the fifth ai-ticle of the treaty of amity, commerce and 
navigation, concluded between the United States and Great Bri' 
tain, at London, Nov. 19, 1794. 

By the 12th Section of the Act entitled An Act 
to restrain the trade and commerce of the pro- 
vince of Massachusetts bay and New Hampshire, 
and colonies of Connecticut, and Rhode Island and 
Providence plantations in North America, to Great 
Britain, Ireland and the British Islands in the West 
Indies, and to prohibit such Provinces and Colo- 
nies from carrying on any fishing on the banks of 
Newfoundland or other places therein mentioned, 



144 

under certain conditions and limitations.' They 
say, it is provided and enacted 'that the river 
which emptieth itself into Passamacadie or Pas- 
samaquaddy bay on the western side, and is com- 
monly called or known by the name of St. Croix 
river be held and deemed for all the purposes in 
this act contained to be the boundary line be- 
tween the Provinces of Massachusetts bay and 
Nova Scotia. 

This act creates no new boundary, it merely re- 
cognizes, confirms and establishes the river St. 
Croix as a boundary between the Provinces of 
Nova Scotia in the patent to Sir William Alexander 
in 1621 ; which was agreed upon, settled, known 
and acknowledged, as the boundary between the 
Province of Nova Scotia and the territory of New 
England, granted to the council of Plymouth in the 
year 1620, which after the surrender of their Grand 
Charter was the boundary between Nova Scotia 
and the territory granted to the Duke of York in 
1664, which was recognized as the western boun- 
dary of Nova Scotia by the charter of William and 
Mary to the Province of Massachusetts bay in 
1691, and which from the treaty of Utrecht in 
1713, was the boundary between the Provinces of 
Massachusetts bay and Nova Scotia, received and 
established by the Crown, and known, acknow- 
ledged and acquiesced in by the Government of 
Massachusetts bay. 

That from the time of the passing of this act of 
Parliament in 1774, the boundaries of the Province 






146 

Nova Scotia remained unaltered to the treaty of 
peace in 1783, will not, it is presumed, be denied. 
And it will not be difficult now to show that the 
river Scoudiac, under the name of the river Saint 
Croix formed a part of the boundary described 
in that treaty. 

It is sufficient here to observe, that at the time 
the treaty of Peace was made in 1783, the provin- 
ces of Quebec and Nova Scotia belonged to and 
were in the possession of the crown of Great 
Britain, and that his Britannic Majesty at that time 
had an undoubted right to cede to the United 
States of America such part of these territories as 
he might think fit, and that in making the cession 
of the territory comprised. within the boundaries of 
the United States as described in the second ar- 
ticle of the treaty of peace, his Majesty must be 
supposed to have used the terms describing these 
boundaries in the sense in which they had been 
uniformly understood in the British Nation, and 
recognized in public documents and acts of go- 
vernment. In this sense, and in no other, could 
they have then been understood, or can they now be 
claimed or insisted upon by the United States. In 
this sense, and in no other, is his Majesty bound to 
give the possession. Whatever river was at that 
time known and recognized by his Majesty and the 
British government as the river St. Croix, forming 
a boundary between the province of Massachusetts 
bay and Nova Scotia, that river, and no other, can 
now be claimed as a part of the Eastern boundary 
19 



146 

of the United States. It is sufficient that in this 
act of parHament the river St. Croix is described 
by a particular location and boundaries which 
cannot be mistaken, known to both parties at the 
time, and assented to on the part of the United 
States by their accepting the act and not giving 
any local designation of the river which they now 
claim, or of any other river than that thus ascer- 
tained by precise description, and knowm by them 
to have been established and at the time contem- 
plated by Great Britain as the boundary between 
the provinces. 

If this principle were once departed from, there 
would be no check to construction on the subject, 
though it would be fortunate to his Majesty's in- 
terests if he were not thus bound, as it might be 
clearly shown in that case that the river Penob- 
scot, once indiscriminately with other rivers upon 
this coast called the St. Croix, was the true boun- 
dary, by which Nova Scotia or Acadie was ceded 
to his Majesty by the treaty of Utrecht, and ought 
in such case, by the principles of the law of na- 
tions to be established as the eastern boundary of 
the United States. 

But the words in the twelfth section of the act 
of Parliament above recited do not in any wise re- 
late to, or suppose any subsisting doubts about the 
locality or identity of the river called or known 
by the name of the St. Croix river, but have refer- 
ence, as has been fully shown to the ancient lim- 
its of the province of Nova Scotia as established 



147 

by the original grant of it to Sir William Alexan- 
der ti'om King James the First, in the year 1621, 
recognized in all subsequent public documents and 
transactions relating thereto, and claimed by the 
province of Massachusetts bay as their Eastern 
boundary under the charter of King William and 
Queen Mary in 1691. 

EXTRACT, &C. 

The most accustomed and convenient rule in 
cases of this kind is to leave to each power respec- 
tively the sources of those rivers that empty them- 
selves, or whose mouths are within its territory 
upon the sea coast, if it can be done consistently 
with, or in conformity with the intent of the treaty. 
If it can be shewn that this rule in the present 
case, can be adopted consistently with what has 
been shown to be the intent of the treaty, it will 
form an ui^answerable argument in favour of a 
compliance with the rule, more especially if a dif- 
ferent construction will involve the inconveniences 
intended to be avoided by so just a principle of 
interpretation. 

Let us in this view attend to the words made 
use of in the treaty describing the first station or 
boundary from which all the other boundaries of 
the United States are to be traced, viz. from the 
northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz. that angle which 
is formed by a line drawn due north, from the 
source of St. Croix river to the highlands, which 
divide those rivers that empty themselves into the 



148\ 

river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the 
Atlantic Ocean. It appears from a map actually 
compiled in most instances from actual surveys, an 
authentic copy of which is now before the Board, 
that a line drawn due north from the source of the 
Cheputnatecook River, or northern branch of the 
River Scoudiac or St. Croix 'will not intersect the 
highlands here described, but will intersect the 
River Restigouche, which empties itself into the 
bay of Chaleurs, which falls into the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, and will also intersect the Metabediac 
lake which is the head or source of a river like- 
wise falling into the bay of Chaleurs. In addition 
therefore to the argument drawn from the inconve- 
nience resulting from its cutting off the sources of 
these rivers, which discharge themselves within 
the British territory upon the sea coast; the source 
of this branch of the Scoudiac or St. Croix, can- 
not be the source intended by the treaty of peace, 
because in such case we cannot arrive at the 
northwest angle of Nova Scotia, which is the first 
bound or station upon which the other boundaries 
depend, as they must be traced from thence, that 
is to say ' that angle which is found by a line drawn 
due north from the source of St. Croix river to 
the highlands which divide those rivers that empty 
themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those 
which fall into the Atlantic ocean.' For, if the 
fact be as above stated, should a line be traced 
due north from the source of the Cheputnatecook, 
if the high lands in such case are on this side or 



149 

to the southward of the river Restigouche, they 
will divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic 
ocean, or bay of Fundy, from those that fall into 
the gulf of St. Lawrence ; if they are between 
the river Restigouche and the Metabediac lake 
they will divide the rivers which from different 
sources unite and fall into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
if they are beyond this lake, they will divide the 
rivers which fall into the 'PrLlf of St. Lmvrence, 
from those v/hich fall into the river St. Lawrence ; 
the requisite angle therefore will not be found upon 
this line. But if a line is traced due north from 
the source of the western or main branch of the 
river Scoudic or St. Croix, it will run to the 
westward of the sources of all the rivers that fall 
into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and will strike the 
highlands which divide the rivers that fall into the 
Atlantic Ocean from those ' 'hich empty themselves 
into the river St. Lawrence and consequently give 
the requisite angle or first bound. 

There is certainly a clear distinction in the grant 
to Sir William Alexander between the river Saint 
Lawrence and the gulf of Saint Lawrence or rather 
of Canada ; the boundary line by this grant, after 
striking that river is to follow the course of it east- 
ward to Gaspee, v/hich lies to the northward of the 
bay of Chaleurs and afterwards the gulf is men- 
tioned, and the words made use of in the grant, 
seem to import a considerable distance eastward, 
between the line where it strikes the river of Can- 
ada of Saint Lawrence and Gaspee. 



150 

It is far from being certain that the ridge of high- 
lands which divides the rivers that empty them- 
selves into the river St. Lawrence from those which 
fall into the Atlantic Ocean, is continued to the 
eastward of the sources of the rivers which fall into 
the gulf of St. Lawrence, but whether thus con- 
tinued or not, the inference is clear from the fore- 
going facts and reasoning that neither the Cheput- 
natecook nor consequently the Magaguadavic or 
any other river whose source is eastward of the 
source of the Cheputnatecook can be the river in- 
tended under the name of the river St. Croix in the 
treaty of peace. 

But to apply these facts to the point more im- 
mediately under consideration, whether a line due 
north from the source of the western or main 
branch of the river Scoudiac or St. Croix, will 
leave to each of the parties to the treaty the sources 
of those rivers that empty themselves, or whose 
mouths are within its territory upon the sea coast 
respectively. 

The effect so far as it regards the United States 
is completely secured by the treaty in all events, 
and thence we have further reason to suppose it 
was intended to be reciprocal in this respect, if a 
just interpretation will warrant it. 

A line due north from the source of the western 
or main branch of the Schoudiac or St. Croix, will 
fully secure this effect to the United States in every 
instance, and also to Great Britain in all instances ex- 
cept in that of the river St. John, wherein it becomes 



161 

impossible by reason that the sources of this river 
are to the westward, not only of the western boun- 
dary hne of Nova Scotia, but of the sources of the 
Penobscot and even of the Kennebec, so that this 
north hne must of necessity cross the St. John, 
but it will cross it in a part of it almost at the foot 
of the highlands and where it ceases to be naviga- 
ble. But if a north line is traced from the source 
of the Cheputnatecook, it will not only cross the 
river St. John, within about fifty miles from Fred- 
erickton, the metropolis of New Brunswick, but 
will cut off the sources of the rivers which fall into 
the Bay of Chaleurs, if not of many others, probably 
of the Meramichi, among them which fall into the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and thereby be productive 
of inconvenient consequences to the two powers, 
if not of contention between them, instead of ' ter- 
minating their differences in such a manner, as 
may be best calculated to produce mutual satisfac- 
tion and good understanding' which is one of the 
principal and avowed objects of the treaty. 

Had the treaty intended that this north line 
should intersect a number of rivers which empty 
their waters through a British province into the 
sea, a right of navigation or passage down those 
rivers would doubtless have been secured to the 
United States by the treaty. That this was not 
the intention of the treaty, not only appears from 
the facts and reasoning that have already been ad- 
duced, but from a further consideration, that in 
most, if not all the maps of the interior country 



152 

published before the year 1783, although the sources 
of the river Saint Croix are very inaccurately laid 
down, still it is very uniformly made to terminate in a 
lake near the eastern branch of the Penobscot, and 
a line drawn north from that termination upon 
those maps, will not intersect any of the rivers 
which empty themselves into the sea to the 
eastward of the mouth of the river Saint Croix 
except the river Saint Johns. This furnishes an 
unanswerable argument so far as any fair con- 
clusions can be drawn from those maps in proof 
not only that the river Scoudiac, is the true ancient 
river Saint Croix and consequently intended by the 
treaty of peace under the name of Saint Croix, 
but that its true source, is upon that western branch 
in a lake, near to an eastern branch of the river 
Penobscot. 

If then there were any doubt remaining which is 
the true source of the river Saint Croix from which 
the line due north to the highlands is to be traced, 
the inconveniences above mentioned would form the 
strongest argument, against a decision from which 
they would result, and in favour of that by which 
they will be avoided ; much more so when the lat- 
ter decision will correspond with and be supported 
by so many other incontestible proofs and argu- 
ments clearly establishing the river Scoudiac to 
the source of the western branch, to be the river St. 
Croix truly intended under that name, in the trea- 
ty of peace and forming a part of the boundary 
therein described ; and the northwest angle of No- 






153 

va Scotia mentioned in the sanie treaty to be form- 
ed by a line drawn due north from that source to 
the highhinds described in the treaty. 

Whether therefore we follow the words of the 
grant to Sir William Alexander, by which we must 
be at all events concluded ; or follow the main 
branch of the river retaining the same name; or 
are governed by the uniform decision of geograph- 
ers and historians of credit upon the subject, and 
the rules and principles of the law of nations for 
the interpretation of treaties, we shall be led to 
,the same place as the source of the river from 
which the line due north must be traced to the 
northwest angle of Nova Scotia. 

But even if it had not been known at the time^ 
of the grant to Sir Wm. Alexander that this river 
had two branches, and the grant had been expres- 
sed generally, to the furthest source of the river 
St. Croix, still the main branch, or that retaining 
the name of the river at its mouth must have been 
followed to its source, not only to satisfy the words 
of the grant, but to give it its intended construc- 
tion and operation. 

It clearly appears to have been the intention of 
the grant to give as large a territory to be erected 
into the province of Nova Scotia as the river St. 
Croix could give by tracing a line due north from 
its source to the great river of Canada, and it is ex- 
pressly provided in the grant, contrary to the gen- 
eral rules for the construction of the Kings grants 
that if any questions or doubts should thereafter 
20 



15i 

arise upon the interpretation or construction, of 
my clause contained in the grant, that they should 
all be taken and interpreted in the most extensive 
sense and in favour of the said Sir William Alex- 
ander. 

Having traced the oriojinal boundaries of the 
province of Nova Scotia, to the farthest source or 
spring of the river St. Croix, upon the western 
branch thereof, and thereby found the utmost wes- 
tern limits of the province, it remains only to dis- 
cover its utinost northern limits in order to ascertain 
the northwest angle we are in search of. 

The province of Nova Scotia at the time of the 
treaty in 1783, was, as has already appeared hounded 
to the northward by the southern boundary of the 
province of Quebec, which boundary was establish- 
ed by the royal proclamation of the 7th October, 
1763, and confirmed by the act of the 14th Geo. 
3 C. 83, passed in the same year with the act of 
parliament already cited, by which it is enacted 
that all the territories, islands and countries in 
North America, belouLnna: to the crown of Great 
Britain bounded on the south by a line from the 
bay of Chaleurs along the highlands which divide 
the rivers that empty themselves into the river St. 
Lawrence, from those which fall into the sea to a 
point in forty-five degrees of northern latitude on 
the eastern bank of the river Connecticut, &c. be 
annexed to, and mad'e a part and parcel of the 
province of Quebec. 



155 

As then at the treaty of peace in 1783, the uDith- 
em Hmit of the province of Nova Scotia, was " a 
Une alons the highlands which divide the rivers 
that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, 
from those which fall into the sea," it unquestion- 
ably Jollows, that the northwest angle of Nova Sco- 
tia, at the time of the treaty of peace in 1783, ivas 
that angle which was formed by a line drawn due 
north from the source of the river St. Croix to those 
highlands. If we now compare this angle with 
the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, described in 
the treaty of peace, viz. : that angle which is form- 
ed by a line drawn due north from the source of 
Si. Croix river to the same highlands, can it be 
said with any degree of propriety, that " the limits 
and boundaries of the province of Nova Scotia ivere 
unknown at the time of the treaty of peace in 1783, 
and that it therefore became necessary to give it 
a western boundary by the treaty itself, in these 
words, to wit : that angle which is formed by a line 
due north from the source of the river St. Croix to 
the highlands?" 

Can it be believed, or for a moment imagined, 
that in the course of human events, so exact a co- 
incidence could have happened between the ac- 
tual boundaries of the province of Nova Scotia 
and the boundaries of it described in this treaty, 
if the latter had not been dictated and regulated 
by the former ? 

Can any man hesitate to say he is convinced 
that the Commissioners at Paris in 1783. in form- 



ifig the second article of the treaty of peace, in 
which they have so exactly described this north- 
west angle, had reference to and were governed 
by the boundaries of Nova Scotia as described in 
the grant to Sir William AlexrUider, and the sub- 
sequent alteration of the northern boundary by the 
erection of the province of Quebec ? 

Will not this conviction become irresistible, when 
he adverts to the reservation made to his Majesty 
in this article of the treaty, " of such Islands, as 
then were, or theretofore had been, within the 
limits of the said province of Nova Scotia, and 
to the islands included and comprehended within 
those limits as described in the grant to Sir Wil- 
liam Alexander, some of which might have belong- 
ed to the United States, as lying within the limits 
of those states, but for the exception of them in the 
treaty ? 

Let us now compare the western boundaries of 
the province of Nova Scotia, granted to Sir Wil- 
liam Alexander, with the corresponding eastern 
boundaries of the United States. As the river St. 
Croix is not included in the grant to Sir William 
Alexander, as stated by the agent of the United 
States ; and as it was not intended to be included, 
because as has been made to appear, this river St. 
Croix was an agreed boundary between the pro- 
vince of Nova Scotia erected by this grant, and the 
territory of New England, granted to the grand 
council of Plymouth, it follows that the line of this 
grant to Sir Wilbam Alexander, must legally be 



157 

construed to run through the middle of the river, 
the river not being assigned inclusively to either 
territory. 

Upon this principle then, this part of the west- 
ern boundries of the province of Nova Scotia, in 
the grant to Sir William Alexander, will be a north 
line, across the mouth of the bay of Fundy, to the 
river commonly called by the name of the St. 
Croix, and through the same, to the furthest source 
or spring upon the western branch thereof, includ- 
ing and comprehending all islands within six leagues 
to the westward northward and eastward, and with- 
in forty leagues to the southward of any part of 
the premises described in the grant. 

And the corresponding eastern boundary of the 
United States, by the second article of the treaty of 
peace, is, " a line to be drawn along the middle of the 
river Saint Croix, from its mouth in the bay of Fundy, 
to its source, including such islands as then were, 
or theretofore had been, within the limits of the 
said province of Nova Scotia," referring to the 
province of Nova Scotia, of which the northwest 
angle before described was made the first station 
or boundary, from which the boundaries of the 
United States were traced. 

As it has already been shown that the source of 
this river Saint Croix, otherwise called Scoudiac, 
upon the western branch, and near to a branch of 
the Penobscot, to which there is a portage or car- 
rying place from it; the same place is evidently 
contemplated as the source from which the line 



158 

due north to the highlands, is to he drawn, both in 
the grant to Sir Wilham Alexander, and in the 2d 
article of the treaty of peace ; and consequently 
this part of the western boundary of Nova Scotia 
in the grant, is precisely the same with the corres- 
ponding eastern boundary of the United States in 
the treaty. 

Thus the first principle stated in this argument 
is established beyond all contradiction, ' that by the 
second article of the treaty of peace, it was intend- 
ed that no part of the province of Nova Scotia 
should be thereby ceded to the United States, but 
that the province of Nova Scotia according to its 
ancient limits, should be and remain a part of the 
territories and dominions of his Majesty, as his 
Majesty had before that time held and possessed 
the same.' 

And this principle being established, the neces- 
sity of examining into and ascertaining precisely 
the ancient boundaries of the province of Nova 
Scotia, in the manner that it has been done, is clear 
and obvious, and the result of that examination 
compared with the boundaries in the treaty of 
peace, thus serves in its turn to confirm the prin- 
ciple. 

This principle being evident from the words of 
the treaty of peace itself, no explanation of the 
treaty, by eitlier party, inconsistent with this true 
and obvious intention of it, can be received con- 
sistently with any of the rules and principles of the 
laws of nations^ universally acknowledged and ad- 



159 

niitted obligatory in sircb cases, as has already been 
made to appear, and will be more fully .'^lovvr., in a 
more particular reply to tbe arguments advanced 
in suj'port of the claim of tbe United States. 

From the foregoing facts and arguments, the 
under-written agent feels himself warranted in con- 
cluding that the river Scoudiac, is the river truly 
intended under the name of the rivel* Saint Croix, 
in the treaty of peace, and forming a part of the 
boundary therein described ; and that the north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, intended by the treaty, 
is that angle which is formed by a line drawn due 
north from the furthest source or spring of the 
western or main branch of the Scoudiac, to the 
highlands described in the treaty. 

As the final declaration to be made by this 
honourable board, deciding what river is the river 
Saint Croix intended by the treaty of peace, must 
particularize the latitude and longitude of its mouth, 
as well as of its source, it may be proper and per- 
haps necessary in this place, to say a few words 
respecting the mouth of the river Scoudiac, which 
has been so fully proved to be the river Saint Croix, 
intended by the treaty. 

By an inspection of the plan of the surveys now 
t)efore the Board, it will appear, in conformity to 
Champlain's authority, that its proper mouth, is 
where it empties itself into that part of Fassama- 
cjuaddy bay which was formerly called the bay of 
Saint Croix, and is now called Saint Andrews bay : 
and this mouth is traversed by a line drawn from 



160 

the north point of Saint Andrews harbor, common- 
ly called Joe's point, across the river to the oppo- 
site point upon the western shore near to the place 
where Mr. Brewer now lives. In conformation of 
this, the Indians produced and examined before 
the Board, as witnesses on the part of the United 
States, have testified that from Brewer's upwards, 
the waters are called Scoudiac ; and from thence 
downwards, Passamaquoddy bay. 

And the author of the history of the district of 
Maine, also speaks of the proper mouth of this 
river as being at or near St. Andrews, where he 
says, " the English now possess the country as 
far west as the east bank of the Scoudiac at its 
mouth." 

It being established that the river Scoudiac, 
under the name of the river vSt. Croix, made a part 
of the original boundaries of the province of Nova 
Scotia, and continued to be a part of its western 
boundary at the time of the treaty of peace in 
1783, it may be proper no;v to inquire whether 
that province has in foct, exercised its jurisdiction 
agreeably to those limits ; and to ascertain this 
fact, as far as it regards this western boundary, we 
can go no further back with any degree of accu- 
racy, than the treaty of peace in 1783; for pre- 
vious to the war, immediately preceding that pe- 
riod, this part of Nova Scotia, or Acadie, had been 
with little interruption, in the hands of the French, 
notwithstanding the treaty of Utrecht, by which 
it was fully ceded to Great Britain. 



161 

The whole country coming into the possession 
of his Britannic Majesty, by the treaty of 1763, 
we are from thence to date our enquiries respect- 
ing the jurisdiction, in fact exercised over this part 
of the country, down to the peace in the year 
1783. 

The boundaries of the province of Nova Scotia, 
as described in the commissions to the Govern- 
ors of it, from his Majesty during that period, con- 
formed as we have seen to the boundaries of it, 
as described in the grant to Sir WilHam Alexan- 
der, without any material variation, except the al- 
teration of its northern limits occasioned by the 
erection of the province of Quebec. 



ISo. 12. 

Copy of the declaration executed hy the Commissioners — viz. 

By Thomas Barclay, David Howell, and Egbert 
Benson, Commissioners appointed in pursuance of 
the fifth article of the treaty of amity, commerce 
and navigation between his Britannic Majesty and 
the United States of America, finally to decide 
the question ' what river was truly intended under 
the name of the river St. Croix mentioned in the 
treaty of peace between his Majesty and the Uni- 
ted States, and forming a part of the boundary 
therein described.' 
21 



162 



DECLARATION. 

We, the said Commissioners, having been sworn 
• impartially to examine and decide the said ques- 
tion according to such evidence as should respec- 
tively be laid before us on the part of the British 
government and the United States,' and having 
heard the evidence which hath been laid before us 
by the agent of his Majesty and the agent of the 
United States, respectively appointed and author- 
ized to manage the business on behalf of the re- 
spective governments have decided, and hereby 
do decide. The river herein after particularly 
described and mentioned to be the river truly in- 
tended under the name of the river St. Croix in 
the said treaty of peace and forming a part of the 
boundary therein described. That is to say, the 
mouth of the said river is in Passamaquaddy bay 
at a point of land called Joe's point, about one 
mile northward from the northern part of St. An- 
dreivs Island, and in the latitude of forty-five de- 
grees, five minutes and five seconds north, and in 
the longitude of sixty-seven degrees twelve min- 
utes and thirty seconds west from the Royal Ob- 
servatory at Greenwich in Great Britain, and three 
degrees fifty-four minutes and fifteen seconds east 
from Harvard College in the University of Cam- 
bridge in the State of Massachusetts, and the course 
of the said river, up from its said mouth, is north- 
erly to a point of land called the Devil's Head, 
then turning the said point, is westerly to where it 
divides into two streams, the one coming from 



163 

the westward and the other coming from the north- 
ward, having the Indian name of Cheputnatecook or 
Chibniticook, as the same may be variously spelt ; 
then on the said stream so coming fromthe'northward 
to its source, which is at a stake near a yellow birch 
tree, hooped with iron, and marked S. T. and J. 
H. 1797, by Samuel Titcomb and John Harris, the 
surveyors employed to survey the abovementioned 
stream coming from the northward. And the said 
river is designated on the map hereunto annexed 
and hereby referred to, as farther descriptive of it 
by the letters A B C D E F G H I K and L. The 
letter A being at its said source, and the course and 
distance of the said source from the island at the 
confluence of the abovementioned two streams 
is, as laid down on the said map, north five degrees 
and about fifteen minutes, west by the magnet, 
about forty-eight miles and one quarter. 

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our 
hands and seals, at Providence, in the State of 
Rhode Island, the twenty-fifth day of October, in 
the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety- 
eight. 

(signed) THOMAS BARCLAY, L. S. 

DAVID HOWELL, L. S. 

EGBERT BENSON, L. S. 
Witness, Edward Winslow, Secretary to the Com- 
missioners. 



164 



Wo. 13. 



Copy of unezcculed Dcdaratluv. 

' By the Commissioners appointed in pursuance 
of the fifth article of the treaty of amity, com- 
merce and navigation between his Britannic Ma- 
jesty and the United States of America, finally to 
decide the question. What river was truly intend- 
ed under the name of the river St. Croix, mention- 
ed in the treaty of peace between his Majesty and 
the United States, and forming a part of the boun- 
dary therein described.' 

DECT.ARATION'. 

We, the said Commissioners, having been sworn 
impartially, to examine and decide the said ques- 
tion, according to such evidence as should respec- 
tively be laid before us, on the part of the British 
Government and of the United States, and having 
heard the evidence which has been laid before us 
by the agent of his Majesty and the agent of the 
United States, respectively appointed and autho- 
rised to manage the business in behalf of the re- 
spective Governments, have decided, and hereby do 
decide, that the river described as follows, viz : 
The source of it is where it issues from the lake Ge- 
nesagranagrumsis, one of the Scoudiac lakes, and 
distant about five miles and three quarters, in a di- 
rect course from where the Cheputnatecook falls 
into it, and about twenty miles and a half, also on 



165 

a direct course from the point of land called the 
DeviPs head, and from its said source, as far at 
least as to the said point of land, it has the Indian 
name of Scoudiac, and its course for that extent is 
easterly, and then turning- the said point and leav- 
ing Oak point bay on the north, its course is south- 
erly to its mouth, which is where it empties itself 
into Passamaquaddy bay, at a point of land called 
Joe's point, about one mile northerly from the north- 
ern point of the island of St. Andrews, and in the lat- 
itude of forty five degrees, five minutes, and f ve 
seconds north, and in the longitude of sixty-seven 
degrees, twelve minutes, and thirty seconds west, 
from the royal observatory of Greenwich in Great 
B itain, and three degrees and fifty four mmutes 
and fifteen seconds east from Harvard College in 
the University of Cambridge, in the State of Massa- 
chusetts, is the river truly intended under the name 
of the river St. Croix, mentioned in the said trea- 
ty of peace, and forming a part of the boundary 
therein described, and the map of it hereunto an- 
nexed, is hereby referred to as further description 
of it. 

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our 
hands and seals, at Providence, in the State of 
Rhode Island, the day of in the year, one 

thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. 

Providence, October 22d, 1798. 

Sir — I have considered with attention your let- 
ter of this day, and it appears to me evident that 
the adoption of the river Cheputnatecook as a part 



\6(y 

oi the boundary between his Majesty's American 
dominions and those of the United States, in pre- 
ference to a line drawn from the easternmost point 
of the Scoudiac lakes, would be attended with con- 
siderable advantage. It would give an addition of 
territory to the province of New-Brunswick, to- 
gether with a greater extent of navigation, on St. 
John's river, and above all, a larger stretch of nat- 
ural frontier calculated to prevent future difficult 
ties and discussions between the two countries. 
if therefore by assenting to the proposal of the 
American agent, you can bring about the unani- 
mous concurrence of the Commissioners in this 
measure, I am of opinion, that you will promote 
his Majesty's real interest, and I will take the 
earliest opportunity with a view to your justifica- 
tion of expressing these my sentiments, on the sub- 
ject to his Majesty's Secretary of State. 
I have the honor to be. 

With great truth and regard, 
Sir, your most obedient 

Humble servant, 

(Signed) ROBERT LISTON. 

WARD CHIPMAN, Esq. 



No. 14. 



XdCtfer from the Governor of Maine, to the Secretary of State of 
the United States. 

^ Portland, 20th March, 1827. 

Sir : Having had the honour to receive your let- 



167 

ter of January 29th last, I transmit, in reply, the 
accompanying* Report and Resolves, relative to 
the northeastern boundary of the State of Maine. 
The attention which you have heretofore paid to 
the adjustment ot the United States' boundary, 
especially in another part of the Union, assures me, 
that you will receive the documents, 1 have men- 
tioned, with that interest to which they are entit- 
led. With the confidence which belongs to the 
patriotic and paternal character of the govern- 
ment of the Union, and without complaining of it, 
in any particular, I may be permitted to say that 
the growing importance of the country claimed 
against the United States and Maine, carries along 
an increasing desire to have an open or confiden- 
tial developement of the material facts. 

The Report and Resolves contain the evidence 
of the present disposition and purposes of the 
State, which will receive my official co-operation 
with the same zeal and fidehty that will cheerfully 
be applied, if requisite, in aiding to carry into ef- 
fect any federal measure applicable to the protec- 
tion of the rights in question. The anxiety of a 
sovereign State to possess the documents, (or co- 
pies of them,) which contain the evidence of a ti- 
tle to soil and of a jurisdictional authority which 
it will, under the United States, maintain, if it 
shall discharge its duty either to those States or to 
itself, will be duly appreciated by yourself and bv 
the President. 

* See Resolves of Maine, page 572 



168 

While that anxiety is here entertained by all the 
citizens, it is not only with reference to an impor- 
tant local concern, but is connected with their in- 
clination to a harmonious action with all who con- 
sent to admit of it. In pursuance therefore of 
the Resolve of the Legislature of Maine, I have 
the honour to solicit such information, relative to 
the northeastern boundary of that State, as the 
President may deem proper to consent to have 
communicated. It is also my duty to add, that 
great benefit will be derived from an early deter- 
mination of a claim harrassing to the State, in- 
terrupting its best pursuits, threatening to some 
of its best hopes, and believed to be unfounded. 



ISo. 15. 



Letter from the Secretary of Stale of the United States, to the 
Governor of Maine. 

Washington, 27th of March, 1827. 

Sir : I have to acknowledge the receipt of the 
letter which your Excellency did me the honour to 
address to me on the 20th instant, with a copy of 
the Report of the joint select Committee of the 
Senate and House of Representatives of the State 
of Maine, enclosed, both of which I have submit- 
ted to the President. The deep interest, which 
is taken by the State of Maine in the settlement 
of our northeastern boundary v.ith Great Britain, 



169 

is very natural. And 1 assure you that it is a sub- 
ject on which the President feels the most lively 
solicitude. Mr. Gallatin is charged with, and has 
actually entered on, a negotiation concerning it, 
but which was not brought to a close at the last 
dates from him, nor is it probably yet terminated. 
At that period, the prospect was, that there would 
be no other alternative than that of referring the 
difference between the two governments to arbi- 
tration, according to the provisions of the treaty 
of Ghent. Much difficulty was experienced even 
in adjusting certain preliminary points necessarily 
connected with the reference, and they have not 
yet been finally arranged. 

When an application was made, during the ses- 
sion of Congress prior to the last, by the Sena- 
tors of Maine, for copies of all the papers in this 
department respecting the disputed boundary, it 
was not deemed expedient to furnish copies of the 
reports and arguments of the Commissioners, the 
publication of which, it was believed, would be 
prejudicial. Copies of any surveys, maps, or doc- 
umentary evidence, were offered. The same con- 
siderations, which then existed, are still believed 
to be opposed to letting copies go from this de- 
partment of those reports and arguments. With 
that exception, copies of any of the other papers 
returned by the Commissioners will be furnished 
whenever application is made for them. 

It is stated in the report of the joint select com- 
mittee that ' we cannot view the acts complained 
22 



no 

of by the British government as encroachments 
upon the rights of New-Brunswick or Great Bri- 
tain, for they relate and were only intended to re- 
late to the territory within the description of the 
treaty.' Although the President might be dispos- 
ed entirely to coincide in this opinion, with the 
State of Maine, it must not be forgotten, that an 
opposite opinion is entertained by Great Britain, 
with whom we are now treating. If, whilst the 
controversy is unsettled, and during the progress 
of a negotiation, each party proceeds to take pos- 
session of what he claims to belong to him, as both 
assert title to the same territory, an immediate col- 
lision is unavoidable. The British government 
has abstained, according to the assurances, given 
through their minister here, from the performance 
of any new acts which might be construed into an 
exercise of the rights of sovereignty or soil over 
the disputed territory ; and they so abstained on 
our representation, and at our instance. Under 
these circumstances, the President continues to 
think, that it is most advisable, that we should 
practice the like forbearance, as recommended in 
the letters, which I had the honour of addressing 
to your Excellency, on the 4th January of the last, 
and the 29th of January of the present year. This 
mutual forbearance, is believed to be essential to 
the harmony between the two countries, and may 
have a favourable tendency in the amicable adjust- 
ment of the difference between them. 

It is worthy also of consideration, that, although 



i 



171 

Maine is most, she is not the only State, interested 
in the settlement of this question. 

Your Excellency may be perfectly persuaded, 
that every effort will be employed to obtain a sat- 
isfactory, and as speedy a decision of this matter, 
as may be practicable ; and that not less atten- 
tion will be paid to it, than has been shown on the 
part of the Executive of the United States in the 
adjustment of their boundary in another part of 
the Union to which you refer, whilst it is hoped 
that some unpleasant incidents, which occurred 
there, may be avoided in the northeast. 

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of 
your Excellency, an extract from a dispatch of 
Mr. Gallatin, under date the 30th October last. 



No. 16. 



Letter from the Governor of Maine, to the Secretary of State of 
the United States, 

Portland, ISth April, 1827 

Sir, — I had the honour to receive your letter, 
bearing date, March 27th, ult. to which it is my 
duty, as the only organ of communication of the 
people of Maine, at this time, and on this occa- 
sion, to reply. 

The rights to which my care will appear to you, 
to be now directed, are not, as I trust, jeopardi- 
zed ; but they are so interesting, as to demand the 
sedulous attention of those functionaries of this 



172 

State, who are placed in relations which enable 
them to represent, through you, to the President, 
the feelings and principles requiring of Maine its 
special regard, and which may be respectfully of- 
fered to the country and the administration. 

Without bringing the subject to that test of deep 
and general anxiety, by which, in a certain con- 
tingency, it must be tried at last, I shall offer a 
frank and sincere reply. 

The extracts from Mr. Gallatin's communication, 
with which you favoured me, being the foundation 
of some of your remarks, allow me to advert to a 
view of the subject, to which he informs you he 
was led by procedures of the Legislature of New- 
Brunswick. I now refer to what he has said as 
to propositions of compromise by Agents of Maine 
and Massachusetts, relating to the boundary line. 
The danger of inferences, under such circum- 
stances, from the ' proceedings of the Legislature 
of New-Brunswick,' is so evident that you will 
not be surprised by a denial of their correctness. 

Assenting to the idea that ' propositions on our 
part, inconsistent with our construction of the 
treaty, and which would not secure to us all the 
waters which empty into the St. Johns, west of the 
line running north from the source of the St. Croix, 
would be dangerous,' and being also prepared to 
admit that Maine would be inconsistent and unjust 
to herself in making such propositions, I shall 
satisfy you that she has not been off her guard in 
the manner, which called forth your friendly inter- 



173 

vention. — And first, allow me to assure you, that 
there is no occasion for alarm on the part of the 
Administration or its Minister in England, that 
Maine will jeopardize the common welfare, by fail- 
ing to insist on the justice and indefeazible cha- 
racter of its claim, or by shrinking from a firm as- 
sertion in any alternative. 

The agents whose supposed acts ' would seem, 
from certain proceedings of the Legislature of New 
Brunswick,' to have been as incautious as is re- 
presented, had no authority to propose any com- 
promise as to our boundary, and if any was offered, it 
was officious and unwarrantable, but I am enabled 
to inform you that the affair has been misrepre- 
sented to Mr. Gallatin, and 1 should offer the 
proofs of the correctness of this assurance in de- 
tail, if I did not believe it improper to pursue the 
consideration of inofficial acts, and of statements 
ill-founded, or if otherwise, inconsequential. Grate- 
ful, therefore, for the attention evinced by the 
caution he has given, however unnecessary, we 
will receive it as the pledge of his vigilance and 
ability. 

In concluding, as to this point, let me fortify you 
against any apprehension that Maine will yield too 
much by declaring to you plainly, that it is not be- 
lieved that either the treaty making or executive 
power of the United States extends to the cession 
or exchange of the territory of any State, without 
its consent; and that for a stronger reason, no 
State can barter that domain in which the union 



174 

has also an interest, and that jurisdiction which 
the highest political duty requires it to exercise. 
Maine will, surely, I believe, so far maintain these 
principles, as to warrant a reliance against indis- 
creet and unconstitutional concessions and a con- 
fidence in the application of her means to the re- 
pulsion of aggression. I have full rel-iance upon 
her disposition and ability to render the President 
all the aid which can be desired against the un- 
founded and presumptuous claims made equally 
against her and the Union, to promote an object 
suggested and supported only by an ambition and 
cupidity, which, although natural, is nevertheless 
on our part altogether objectionable. If these views 
shall not satisfy the President, of the confidence to 
which Maine is entitled, as to the assertion and 
defence of her rights, I shall with pleasure offer 
those further proofs which I omit at present, only 
from the desire of engaging your indulgence for a 
few additional observations. 

It was with m'uch regret, not unmingled with 
mortification, that I considered your denial of the 
use of the reports and arguments of the Commis- 
sioners under the treaty of Ghent. From the want 
of that information which it was hoped the United 
States would yield to a party having the same in- 
terest with themselves, and only desirous to sus- 
tain them, it is assumed that there are reasons for 
your decision, through which that respect will be 
commanded, now from great deference, proffered 
in anticipation. Wishing to act in full coincidence 



176 

with the views entertained by the federal adminis- 
tration, the State must be bound to beHeve in a 
mutual regard, and to endeavour to avoid any em- 
barrassing applications on her own part, but it may 
not be unsuitable for her to expect a degree of 
confidence in return. 

All that forbearance which the occasion re- 
quires, will, as I may safely assure you, be exhibit- 
ed by this State. While her extensive and valua- 
ble tracts of wild land, which might otherwise soon 
be improved, remain unsettled : — while her pro- 
gress in wealth and power is checked is a most 
disastrous manner, at the period most favourable 
to giving an impulse to her prosperity : — while many 
important resources are left dormant during the 
pendency of the dispute as to her property and ju- 
risdiction: — while a frontier, which might soon be 
made strong, remains unfortified by the freemen 
anxious to occupy it, she will, I doubt not, forbear 
on the request of the general government, until 
the imperious call of duty shall summon her to oc- 
cupy her inheritance. Seeking to promote, by all 
suitable concessions, the amicable adjustment you 
refer to, she will only withdraw her deference and 
submission, when a clai:.n unjust in itself, may 
seem to expose a portion of her territory to incor- 
poration with a province. — With this spirit of for- 
bearance, she has sought information only as to an 
interest vital to herself, as well as important to the 
country, without any purpose calculated to excite 
distrust, with only such patriotic views as have 



176 

rendered the refusal to comply with her request, a 
subject of that species of surprise, which a friend, 
predetermined to take no oiftnce, feels when he is 
not treated with correspondent confidence. 

Maine, Sir, was with great difficulty introduced 
into the Union ; but, if I recollect rightly, the ar- 
guments which were used, she was introduced as a 
sovereign and Independent State. 

As a free, sovereign, and independent republic, 
may we not be permitted to have communication 
with the authorities of the union, or do they mean 
that we shall submit implicitly to their direction, 
however wise it may be, at the same time that they 
declare their conviction of the propriety of with- 
holding information? The general concerns of the 
Union, are of course communicated only to the 
whole, but that which relates to a particular com- 
munity, where its daily intercourse demands infor- 
mation, seems to warrant the request I have made, 
and which I am reluctantly impelled to renew, 
with this modification, that any communication, 
made in return, will be received, if so required, 
subject to a restriction on publicity beyond a com- 
munication to the Legislature in the usual terms of 
confidential communications. If the President will 
not consent to this, we must yield with the defer- 
ence we owe to the station he holds, to the claims 
he has on our affections and confidence, to the in- 
formation he possesses, and the prudence he dis- 
plays to any extent within which the absolute and 
indefeasible rights of Maine, may not be compro- 



177 

mitted. Will you permit me to add that, as to all 
beyond that, this State may probably claim the 
right to use her moral and physical energies as 
she may be directed by the future emergencies ; 
and I am sure, if her good will shall impel her, with 
power enough to sustain her right to soil and ju- 
risdiction, wherever she may probably claim them 
against any probable foreign and arrogant assump- 
tion ; especLally with the aid of the general govern- 
ment. 

1 do not wish to weary your patience by urging 
the particular arguments which might sustain my 
proposition. It is true, Sir, that Maine is not the 
only State interested. The Union is interested, 
and each State is severally interested in having a 
powerful community on our northeastern bounda- 
ry, which may, hke New- York, in the last, be the 
pride and defence of the nation in the next war. 
Whenever again there shall be a struggle between 
the navies and armies of this republic and Great 
Britain, the position of Maine will require activity, 
strength, and confidence. She will be exposed to 
a large portion of danger and suffering, and will 
be, I hope and believe, resolute to acquire the 
glory to which such exposure, with unimpaired 
means, will invite her. 

Politically peninsulated, with three foreign go- 
vernments pressing upon her borders, with the high 
ambition inspired, and the high responsibility cre- 
ated by her destination, can it be believed that 
she will relinquish her resources, suffer ber land 



178 

iiiurks to bo removed, and yield to a most pre- 
sumptuous arrogation of a foreign power. I trust 
you will more highly appreciate her intelligence 
and spirit than to imagine that so degrading and 
pernicious a surrender can be consented to by her. 

But, is she authorized even to consider this ques- 
tion, and to determine the extent of her municipal 
jurisdiction, and that of the territorial limits within 
which she will exercise it ^ If a mandate of the 
Executive of the United States, under an act of 
the treaty making power, is, upon principle, im- 
perative, she ought to be silent and passive ; but 
if not, however confidently she may rely upon her 
safety, as guarded by wisdom and patriotism, she 
ought to announce her wishes and her principles. 

While under treaties with Great Britain, the 
boundary in dispute has been settled, the difficulty 
has occurred only as to the application of the rule 
in those treaties contained, to the surface of the 
ground. The right, to the full extent of the first 
treaty is perfect. It w^as not created by that trea- 
ty, but its existence was prior to it, and no sur- 
render could have then been made without the 
consent of the proprietor and the sovereign. No 
surrender was made, and there is not a moral or 
political, in other words, a governmental force, 
sufficient to change the true, honest determination 
of the land-mark. And ihere is nothing but soph- 
istry, and that ignoble spirit of compromise, which 
exists not in this republic, which will consent to 
the obvious and monstrous falsehoods to which am- 



179 

bitious and artful pretensions have led the enemies 
of Maine. 

In regard to the sentence which you have ex- 
tracted from the report of the joint select commit- 
tee, as it contains a sentiment approved by the Le- 
gislature, and acquiesced in by the people, I shall 
trouble you with a brief comment in regard to it. 
It rests upon the idea before suggested that Maine, 
with Massachusetts, has a perfect title in the dis- 
puted territory, and that the former State, has a 
vested, indefeasible jurisdictional control over it, 
the exercise of which it may irresponsibly apply. 
It is a proposition which has been demonstrated 
by yourself so clearly, as to have commanded gen- 
eral respect, that the abstraction of the territory 
of the United States, cannot be made by the treaty 
making or executive power. Much more then 
must the domain of a State within its acknow- 
ledged limits be sacred, and much more and more 
is it evident, that neither department of the fed- 
eral government, nor all, can be the exclusive and 
final arbiter as to the ascertainment of a bounda- 
ry already established in description ; because, if 
one department, or all, have this power, they may 
ascertain the line falsely, indirectly cede our State, 
converting it into a British dependency, and thus 
by the arguments, I had the invaluable satisfaction 
of hearing applied in another case, violate the 
constitution. If, therefore, the committee have 
fallen into error, it has not been in the principle 
of their judgment as to the rights of this State ab- 



180 

stiactiy considered ; but in llieir view of the extent 
ol" our territory and of the application of our au- 
thority over it. They in fact substantially assert 
that the treaty of 1783, in connexion with original 
grants, and subsequent and correlative circum- 
stances, established and defined our bounds, so 
as to preclude ju.-t complaint of our public acts 
within the scope of those legitimate powers, which 
at the discretion of the vState, it may, within those 
bounds, any where apply. The doctrine of the 
committee can only be refuted by proving that the 
national authority is exclusive as to the adjust- 
ment of our exterior boundary ; but let it be re- 
collected that the present case only admits the as- 
certainment of a line by a rule prescribed, and not 
the creation of one arbitrarily, or in other words, 
by arbitrament. A right v/as vested in a third 
party before the Union existed, and has been con- 
firmed by it since. In short, the committee, it is 
believed, may be considered as claiming such re- 
spect as may be attached to those who have truly 
exhibited the sentiments of this community. 

Anxious, as in my situation, I cannot avoid being, 
for the preservation, during my continuance in of- 
fice and always after, of the rights of the State, I 
must express my alarm at a portion of Mr. Galla- 
tin's letter. He says, ' an umpire, whether a King 
or farmer, rarely decides on strict principles of 
law ; — he has always a bias to try if possible to 
split the difierence,' &c. ; and yet I am informed 
that there has been in progress an arrangement of 



181 

the preliminary points, for constituting such an 
umpire, I cannot but hope that no arrangement 
will be effected, which will endanger the half from 
ihe mere circumstances of a wrongful claim to the 
whole, under the pitiful weakness which is liable to 
split the difference between right and wrong. 

Let me add, in this particular part of my letter, 
most respectfully, but solemnly, the sentiment, that 
Maine is bound to claim at the hands of the fede- 
ral government, the protection of the integrity of 
her territory, the defence of her sovereignty, and 
the guardianship of her State rights. She is called 
upon to urge this that she may be rather permitted 
to rest on the parental care of the Union than 
driven to any independent agency, in any form, in 
relation to this concern. 

That you may not be surprised that the State, 
after having fruitlessly sought information should 
have determined on its course without it, give me 
leave to say that while she cannot be presumed to 
be informed in all particulars, as to the relations 
of a deeply interesting character in which she is 
placed, she is called upon to judge as to others, 
and is not v/ithout the premises necessary to cor- 
rect conclusions. 

Whatever intelligence she might have been per- 
mitted to receive as to her relative situation, she 
would, as she wdll hereafter, cheerfully co-operate 
with the general government to prevent an assump- 
tion of our territory, to whatever extent, by the 
King of Great Britain. 



182 

In executing the resolve of the Legislature it 
will be convenient to me to possess a schedule of 
those documents which may be communicated. I 
will, therefore, hope the favour of being furnished 
with such an index for the direction of my inquiries. 



No. 17. 



Letter from the Secretary of State of the United States, to the 
Governor of Maine. 

Washington, 7th May, 1827. 

Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your Excellency's letter of the 18th ultimo^ 
and to inform you that I have submitted it to the 
President. The solicitude which is felt by your 
Excellency and the Legislature of Maine, in regard 
to the settlement of our northeastern boundary, so 
interesting to that State, and so important to the 
whole Union, is perfectly natural, and justly ap- 
preciated by the President. And he is entirely dis- 
posed to communicate any information in the pos~ 
session of the Executive of the United States on 
that subject, which can, in his opinion, be commu- 
nicated without the danger of public detriment. 
Accordingly, when, at the cession of Congress be- 
fore the last, an application was made at this de- 
partment, by the Senators from Maine, for copies 
of all the papers, maps, and other documents re- 
ported by the Commissioners, who were appointed 



1S3 

under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, it was 
stated to those gentlemen, that the copies would 
be furnished whenever requested, with the excep- 
tion of the reports and arguments of the Commis- 
sioners, transcripts from which, considering their 
peculiar character, in the then state of the ques- 
tion, the President did not think it expedient to 
allow to he taken. The Senators from Maine 
availed themselves of the permission, and obtained 
copies of some of the maps. Copies of all the pa- 
pers reported by the Commissioners, which are 
very voluminous, would require the services of two 
or three copyists for many weeks ; but the labor of 
preparing them would be cheerfully encountered 
for the accommodation of the State of Maine. 

The negotiation with Great Britain is still pend- 
ing, but there is reason to expect that it will soon 
be brought to some conclusion ; perhaps in a 
shorter time than would be requisite to copy and 
transmit the papers reported by the Commission- 
ers, to your Excellency. The Presidq^it continues 
to think, that the public interest requires, that the 
communication of transcripts of the reports and 
arguments of the Commissioners, even under the 
limitation proposed by your Excellency, should be 
postponed for the present, and until it can be made 
\Vithout the risk of any injurious effect upon the 
state of the negotiation. Your Excellency's expe- 
rience in public affairs, will enable you to make a 
just estimate of the reserve and delicacy which 
ought to be observed in all negotiations with foreign 



184 

powers, involving subjects of deep national inter- 
est. This consideration has such weight, that it is 
the uniform practice of Congress, as no one knovvS 
better than your Excellency, to annex a qualifica- 
tion to the calls which are from time to time made, 
for papers relating to the foreign nogotiations of 
the Government. There would not be the small- 
est objection to an exhibition to the inspection ot 
your Excellency, or confidentially, to any person 
that you might think proper to designate, of all the 
papers, without exception, reported by the Com- 
missioners. I abstain from a particular notice of 
many of the topics of your Excellency's letter, not 
from the least want of respect, (on the contrary 
I entertain the highest, personally and officially,) 
for your Excellency, but from a persuasion that the 
discussion of them is without utility. It has been 
thought most profitable to limit my answer to the 
specific requests contained in your letter. 

I transmit herewith, in conformity with your 
wish, a list of the papers reported by the Commis- 
sioners, copies of any of which may be procured, 
for the use of the State of Maine, whenever desired, 
with the exception which has been stated. 



Jl 



18- 



No. 18. 

4. List of Books, papers, ^^c. relative to the Hth article of the 
treaty of Ghent. 

BOOKS. 

Vol. I. Journal of Commission. 

Vol.11. Claims of Agents. 

Contains, Claim of the agent of the United States. 
First. Memorial concerning the north- 
west angle of Nova Scotia, and the 
northwesternmost head of Connecticut 
river, &:c. 

By the agent of H. B. Majesty. 
Second, Memorial concerning same. By 
same. 

Vol. III. Answers of Agents. 

Contains, A reply to the Memorial of the Agent of 
the United States, filed 8th June, 1821, 
exhibiting the line of the boundary of the 
United States from the source of the 
river St. Croix, to the Iroquois or Cata- 
raguy. Ansvi^er of the Agent United 
States to the claim and opening argu- 
ment of the Agent of H. B. Majesty. 
Read, August 10th, 1821. 

Vol. IV. Replies of the Agents. 

Contains, The Reply of the Agent of the United 
States, to the answers of the Agent of H. 
B, Majesty to the claim and opening ar* 
24 



186 

gunieiit of the Agent of the United States, 
&c. Read, Sept. 27th, 1821. 

Observations upon the answers of the 
Agent of the United States, to the claim 
and opening argument of the Agent of 
H. B. Majesty, &c. 

By the Agent of H. B. Majesty. 
Vol. V. General Appendix. 

Contains, Reports of the Surveyors and Astrono- 
mers, and Documents referred to, in the 
Arguments of the Agents. 
Appendix to British AgenVs Reply. 
(Duplicate) Report of Commissioner C. 
P. Van Ness. 

Report of the Commissioner of H. B. 
Majesty, addressed to the Government 
of the United States. 

Appendix to the Report of H. B. Ma- 
jesty's Commissioners. 



No. 19. 



INDEX. 



Numbers referred to in Numbers referred to in tin 

the U. S. arguments. British arguments. 

1 . Mr Johnson's survey of the Line North ) , 
from the St. Croix in 1817. 5 

2. Col. Bouchett's survey of the same Line, > ^ 
1817. 5 

3. Mr. Johnson's further survey of the NortR > 
Line and adjacent country in 1818. 5 



187 

4. Mr. Odell's further survey of the North > tj 
Line. \ ^^' 

5. Capt. Partridge's section of the country^ 
from Point Levi, to Hallowel, Maine, | 
1819, of the different heights through the J>4 
Grand Portage of Matawasca on St. | 
John rivers, of Mar's hill. J 

6. Survey of the Restook section of the ) ^ 
same, and of Mar's hill. \ 

7. Mr. Odell's survey of the Restook with^ 

a sketch of the country as viewed from ! ^ 
Mar's hill and the vicinity of the Houl- { 
ton Plantation. J 

8. Mr. Hunter's survey of the Allaguash ) ^ 
river. ^ 

9. Mr. Hunter's survey of the Penobscot, > « 
First Part. \ ' 

10. Mr. Hunter's survey of the Penobscot, > ^ 
Second Part. C 

11. M. Burnham's survey of the branches) „ 
of Connecticut river. ^ 

12. Doc. Tiark's survey of Connecticut riv- > . 
er and its tributary streams. \ 

13. Mr. Burnham's survey of Memkeswee, ) g 
Green rivers and Beaver stream. \ 

14. Mr. Burnham's survey of Toladie River > ,^ 
and Grand Portage. ' > 

16. Doc. Tiark's survey of Toladie and ) , 
Green Rivers. ( 

16. Mr. Loring's survey of Penobscot River. 12 

17. " " " of Moose River. 1& 

18. Mr. Cambell's sketch of the Height of ^ ' 
Land annexed to Mr. Odell's Report of V F. 
the survey of 1819. > 



188 

11^. Mr. Hunter's survey of the river St. John. 14 

20. Mr. Loss' survey of the river St. John. 15 

21. Mr. Partridge's survey of the Chaudiere, ^ 
the source of the Dead River, and the > 16 
East Branch of the Connecticut. ) 

22. Mr. Carlile's survey of the Head waters ^ -.« 
of the Chandiere and Kennebec rivers. ^ 

23. Mr. Burnham's survey of the river Ouel- > -.g 
le and of the source of Black river. ) 

24. Mr. Carhle's survey of the rivers. 19 

25. Mr. Burnham's survey of the sources of ^ 
Metjarmette, Penobscot and St. John > 20 
rivers. ) 

26. Mr. Carlile's survey of the same source. 21 

27. Col. Bouchett's Barometrical section of >2q 
the line north from the St. Croix. ^ 

28. Extract from Carrigan's Map of New- ) q 
Hampshire. > 
Extract from Mitchel's Map of Connect- > ^ 
icut river. 3 
Extract from Col. Bouchett^s concern- > ^ 
ing the parallel line. > 

29. Extract from Mitchell's map as first filed > 
by the British agent. ) 

SO. Plan of the former survey of the latitude > 
of forty-five degrees north, in 1774. ) 

Additional. 

Map of the country explored in the years 1817, 
1818, 1819, and 1820, by order of the Commission- 
ers under the 5th article of the treaty of Ghent. 

Maps referred to in the British AgenVs reply. 
A. Map of Connecticut river by Dr. Tiarks, 



189 

B. Streams tributary to Connecticut river by Mr. 
Burnham. 

C. Extract from Carrigan's map of New-Hamp- 
shire. 

D. Extracts from Mitchell' map shewing the > 
heads of Connecticut river. ^ 

E. Col. Bouchett's plan sliewing the difter- > 
ent lines considered as the parallel of 45" > 
North. > 

F. Mr. Campbell's sketch of the height of ^ 
land annexed to Mr. Odell's report of the > 
survey of 1819. } 

G. Mr. Odell's plan of the survey of the Re- ^ 
stook, with a sketch of the country as > 
viewed, Hill and the vicinity of Houlton. ) 

H. Extract from Mr. Odell's plan of the due > 
north line explored in 1818. ^ 

I. General extract from Mitchell's map. 
K. Corrected copy of same extract. 

Filed August 14, 1821. 

(signed) S. HALE, Secretary. 
Title of the British. 

This Atlas (containing the copies of maps and 
parts of maps and plains with the exception of the 
last Mitchell's map which was filed as thereon 
stated) accompanied the answering argument of 
the Agent of His Britannic Majesty filed on the 
14th of August last. 



190 



IVo. 20. 

belter front the Governor of Maine, to the President of the 
United States. 

Portland, May 19, 1827. 

Sir : The situation in which this State is placed, 
in consequence of the unexecuted provision of the 
treaty of Ghent relative to its northeastern boun- 
dary imposes upon me a duty which I am not per- 
mitted to compromise by my feelings of respect 
for yourself, and the high authority with which 
you are invested. However discouraging may have 
been the correspondence I have had with the Sec- 
retary of State, I cannot decline a course dehbe- 
rately determined upon, or admit the belief, that 
a representation relating to the welfare of Maine 
can be unvvelcome. It is not the comparatively 
light concern of a passing favour, or the import of 
a transient measure that T am about to urge ; but 
it is that of making a memorial for consideration 
and record as to the demesne and jurisdiction of 
this member of the Union. 

Obliged to depend principally for information 
upon rumor, the tenacity of knowledge, which is 
power, has not, however, concealed the fact that 
the British government has made a claim embracc- 
ing a large tract of country adjacent to the pro- 
vince of New-Brunswick. Information from va- 
rious sources cannot fail to have produced on your 
mind a just impression of the importance commu- 



191 

nicated to that territory in reference to value and 
jurisdiction, by its qualities of soil, its variety of 
native productions, its streams, its situation, and 
all those properties calculated to render it not only 
a strong interior barrier to invasion, but fruitful of 
the means to prosperity to our maritime frontier. 
The State of Maine claims the propriety in an un- 
divided moiety, and the entire jurisdiction, as far 
as consistent with the paramount power of the 
United States, in relation to that extensive tract. 
Having learned that the title thereto is involved in 
the details of a diplomatic arrangement conducted 
under the sanction of the executive department of 
the federal government, Maine, although not con- 
sulted, yet bound from deference, to pay a due res- 
pect to reasons, the nature and force of which she 
is, from a studious and mysterious reserve rendered 
I unable to comprehend, believes she ought to pre- 
' sent her expostulations in regard to any measures 

threatening her with injury. 
I The Secretary of State has informed me that 

the disputed claims to land along our northeastern 
boundary are to be submitted to arbitration. By 
arbitration I understand a submission to some for-^ 
eign Sovereign or State, who will decide at plea- 
sure on the whole subject, who will be under no 
absolute obligations, or effectual restraint by virtue 
of the treaty of 1783, whose conscience will not be 
bound to impartiality and justice by the solemn 
sanction of an oath, and whose feelings may natu- 
rally be biassed against a Republic accused of inor-*i 



192 

dinate ambition, and in whose peace and prosperity 
there is an interesting lesson and example for 
nations. 

The treaty making power of the United States 
on one side, and his Britannic Majesty on the other, 
engage to consider the decision of the arbitrator 
final and conclusive. Let me say that to a surren- 
der of territory, involved as a possibihty, it will, I 
trust, be made evident that there is another party^ 
not to be an indifferent spectator of its own dela- 
ceration. The mind in contemplating our prospects 
is carried to the Courts of Europe, and led to scan 
the tribunals to which you may refer this subject. — 
It would be unsuitable for me to comment on the 
dispositions or talents of foreign Sovereigns or 
States, but it is not in cold blood that I can antici- 
pate the comnutting the destinies of Maine to an 
irresponsible arbiter to be found in a distant land 
and necessarily unqualified to act in the case. 
The character of this arbitership has been porten- 
tiously exhibited by Mr. Gallatin in that letter, in 
which on the authority of intelligence from New 
Brunswick, he most erroneously ascribed an inter- 
position by the agents of Massachusetts and Maine 
as to a compromise of our boundary. Suffice it to 
say that the proposed arbitration will jeopardize, with- 
out her consent and against her will, the rights of 
Maine ; and allow me to add, that if called upon 
to make the required sacrifice, she will be com- 
pelled to deliberate on an alternative, which will 
to6t the strictness of her principles, and the firm- 



193 

ness of her temper. The acknowledgment of the 
mother country and the exercise of the inherent 
power of the people, formed Massachusetts into a 
body politic, originally independent of the present 
Union and of every foreign government. All the 
territorial and jurisdictional rights which she could 
acquire were absolutely her own and remain so to 
this day, excepting so far as she has granted them 
to the United States or to Maine. The treaty of 
1783, containing the acknowledgment of her eman- 
cipation, and exaltation to self-government, was 
not with the States, exclusively as a federal body, 
but partially at least as independent communities, 
that is to say, if in some points of view they ap- 
peared as forming a national, in other, they were 
regarded as being an allied association. Hence 
the acknowledgment of independence applied dis- 
tinctly to each State, as did also the relinquishment 
by the King of Great Britain of ' the propriety and 
territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.' 
It is necessary to notice, that at the period of the 
negotiation of the treaty of peace, the confederation 
to a slight extent and in reference to a few objects drew 
the States into concert and gave them a unity of cha- 
racter ; but the most superficial examination shows 
that the confederacy had not a common interest in 
territory or territorial rights, and that the recogni- 
tion of these bore upon the ancient colonies only 
as they held under their charters, or as the fruits of 
their wisdom and valor, in fee simple and absolute 
sovereignty. 
25" 



194 

When by the ratification of the conventions of the 
States, Massachusetts surrendered to a superintend- 
ing agency a portion of her power, she yielded no 
right to dispose of her soil, or to abstract any part 
of it from her jurisdiction. She imparted no au- 
thority to enter into new engagements, or, what 
may be equivalent, to modify the means of enforc- 
ing an existing provision of an original compact 
made in part with herself, nor to expose without 
her own consent or that of her successor and re- 
presentative to the fate of foreign arbitrament, 
her dearly purchased and sacred rights. On the 
contrary, Maine, now standing in the place of her 
parent republic, may deem the fifth article of the 
treaty of Ghent, as having led to a course endanger- 
ing her ritrhts, and rendered more painful and 
alarming by her exclusion from a proper intercom- 
munication and legitimate consideration as a party 
in the case. 

Whatever character appertained to the confed- 
eration or to those who entered into that holy 
leafTue, it is manifest that the States were not iden- 
tified and confounded with the Union in relation 
to the question here presented, under the original 
treaty of peace and limits, i must, therefore, re- 
spectfully urge that however the policy and prin- 
ciples of the executive department of the federal 
government may dictate the imposition upon Maine 
of silence and forbearance, and however plainly 
may be indicated the disposition to treat the sub- 
ject as if merely national, she will not observe any 



195 

procedure by the United States and Great Britain 
for the severance of her territory and the abroga^ 
tion of her authority, without a sensibihty too se- 
rious to be passive. She holds that her domain is 
not the subject of partition. 

I pause to render more obvious the relevancy of 
these remarks. Of two principles on which it de- 
pends, it may be sufficient to state but one. The 
power of subjecting to arbitration with an absolute 
right in the arbiter to form and establish a ter- 
ritorial limit is equivalent to the power of ceding 
territory. — The arbiter is the legal substitute and 
mutual agent of the parties, in this case assumed 
to be the United States and Great Britain, his 
acts are their acts, and there is a positive pledge 
to an unconditional obedience to his behest. It is 
the delegation of the Sovereignty of a despot. 
The effect may be the cession of all Maine or of 
only a part, but if of any, the government of the 
United States will participate by an unauthorized 
submission, in the injustice of the umpire. 

It is not controverted that the control of our fo- 
reign relations belongs to the United States as to 
objects which have arisen under the Constitution 
or existing laws ; but in regard to rights acquired 
by an independent party and interests in property 
vested by acts anterior to the existence of that 
compact, the interposition by the federal executive 
without an express grant of power seems to be 
gratuitous. No statesman will assert, that the 
treaty making power is competent to an act trans- 



196 

cending the scope of the combined trusts of the 
government. 

1 advert to principles, familiar to your mind, be- 
cause it is my duty to present the opinions here 
entertained. What then is the authority, or agen- 
cy which it may be assumed, would produce no re- 
monstrances from the State the most deeply con- 
cerned ? Not surely that which admits of what is 
termed by Mr. Gallatin, splitting the difference, 
nor of concedmg property, which does not belong 
to the United States, nor curtailing a jurisdiction 
above their rightful control. Whatever may be 
urged to the contrary, it is confidently asserted not 
only that the provision of the treaty of 1783 is im- 
perative, but that it describes our boundary with 
a precision which shames the British claim, and, 
connected with the making of that claim, casts a 
shade over the lustre of the British character. 
By negations we may sometimes arrive at an affirm- 
ative. 1 say then that the boundary on the surface of 
the earth, does not rest along the Penobscot, which 
the British, then perhaps contemplating that vast 
empire, they anticipated in North America, insid- 
iously and surreptitiously seized during the late war. 
That boundary cannot be established there. It 
does not rest where the British minister has pre- 
sumed to place it. The making the claim does 
not determine its justice, nor the obstinacy of per- 
sisting in it create with this powerful nation the 
necessity of a concession, which will as surely be 
followed by a more enormous one, as it is certain 



197 

that the Roman Empire was ignominiously subju- 
gated through the base spirit of submission to in- 
cipient wrong. Enough has been said to meet the 
obvious and natural enquiry, what is expected of 
the government, or may I not say what is demand- 
ed of it. — It knows the demerit of the British 
claim ; it is conscious of the rights of Maine ; and 
hereafter it cannot be said that her views have not 
been exhibited. She might therefore be forever 
justified in the exercise of her jurisdiction and so- 
vereign State rights over the disputed ground. Her 
faith is not pledged, nor is that of the Union to 
permit any reduction of her actual territory, and 
there is no artifice of construction or force of au- 
thority to break off that great component part of 
her domain now assailed, and to bind her judg- 
ment to acquiescence. The cession would be nu- 
gatory, and if, for a time, she should be compelled 
to submit to it, the abeyance produced by power 
will not preclude the right of resumption which 
justice may at some period award. 

It has been urged that this concern is so exclu- 
sively national that Maine is obtrusive in present- 
ing her views to the consideration of the execu- 
tive. It is, nevertheless, believed that she is under 
high obligations vigilently to supervise her inter- 
ests, freely to assert her rights, and not to yield 
readily to the discouraging but perfectly natural 
inclination to see in her conduct the humblest de- 
ference and an entire unquestioning, improvident 
obedience. She commits no intentional error and 



198 

communes with the frankness which belongs to her 
independence, her character, and her station with 
her sister Repubhcs and with the Union. — In do- 
ing so she evinces her respect for their integrity, 
intelhgence, and patriotism, and she avoids by a 
prudent forecast that danger of coUision bred from 
present distrust and that querulous and exasperated 
temper usually exhibited when the evils of mea- 
sures are experienced and when causes are appre- 
ciated by their effects. 

Repeating to you the expression of my regret 
that you have been pleased to refuse that informa- 
tion contemplated by a resolution of the State, I 
shall nevertheless continue to hope for the preser- 
vation, under the protecting care of government, of 
that now exposed territory, destined under any 
proprietor to be soon occupied by a numerous po- 
pulation engaged in all the pursuits which sustain 
human life and adorn human nature. 



Wo. 21. 



LetUr from the Governor of Blaine, to the Secretary of State of 
the United States.- 

Portland, 29th April, 1827. 

Sir : I am induced by considerations which I 
deem important, to avail myself of your obliging 
offer, to obtain copies of all the papers in your 
office, relative to the boundary between this State 
and New Brunswick, which the President may per- 



199 

mit to be transmitted. This request applies to 
maps with the exception of the map already fur- 
nished of the country explored in ihe years 1817, 
1818, 1819, and 1820, by order of the Commission- 
ers under the lifth article of the treaty of Ghent, 
by Hiram Burnham, U. S. surveyor. 

I have the honor also to soUcit transcripts of the 
arguments of Mr. Chipman and Mr. Sullivan, as 
agents under the commission for determining the 
true St. Croix ; and of the arguments of Mr. Austin 
and Mr. Chipman, under the fourth article of the 
treaty of Ghent, together with the report of the 
Commissioners in both cases. 

Excuse me for adverting to the punctilio of ex- 
pense, which I shall wish to see liquidated. 

I have made a communication to the President 
on the subject of our northeastern boundary, which 
you will perceive from its nature was necessarily 
directed immediately to him. 



No. 22. 



Letter from the Secretary of State of the United States to the 
Governor of Maine. 

Washington, 9th June, 1827. 

Sir : The President has received the letter, 
which your Excellency addressed to him, under date 
the 29th ultimo ; and I am charged by him to con- 
vey to you his assurances that your observations on 
the interesting subject of our northeastern boun- 



200 

dary shall receive attentive and respectful consider- 
ation. I beg leave to add that in no contingency 
is any arbitration of the difference between the 
United States and Great Britain, relative to that 
boundary, contemplated, but that for which pro- 
vision has been solemnly made by treaty. It would 
afford great satisfaction to the President, if a resort 
to that alternative for quieting the dispute could 
be avoided, by obtaining from Great Britain an ex- 
plicit acknowledgment of the territorial claims of 
Maine, in their whole extent. Candor, however, 
compels me to state, that the prospects of such an 
acknowledgment, at the present time, are not en- 
couraging. 



]Vo. 23. 



Letter from Daniel Brent, Esq. af the department of State of the 
United States, to the Governor of Maine. 

Washington, June 15, 1827. 

Sir : I was directed by the Secretary, before 
his departure from this City, a few days ago, on a 
visit to Kentucky, to have copies prepared of the 
books, &c. &c. requested in your letter to him of 
the 29th of May, and to transmit them to your Ex- 
cellency, with all possible dispatch ; and I have 
just collected together the manuscript books con- 
taining the arguments of Mr. Chipnian and Mr. 
Sullivan, agents under the commission for deter- 
mining the true St. Croix, and those containing the 



■201 

arguments of Mr. Austin and Mr. Chi praan, agents 
under the 4th article of the treaty of Ghent, to- 
gether with the reports of the Commissioners in 
both cases, fourteen in number, and averaging, 
each about two hundred and fifty pages of close 
writing on foolscap paper ; transcripts of these being 
particularly noticed by you as wanting. Added 
to those, the arguments, reports and papers, in- 
cluding the maps, under the 5th article of the 
treaty of Ghent, which come, it would seem tome, 
within the scope of your request, embrace a mass 
of writing nearly as voluminous as that of these 
books. I take the liberty under these circumstan- 
ces, of troubling your Excellency with this com- 
munication, to apprize you of the extent of the 
transcripts which appear to be thus required, and 
of the delay which must, of consequence, attend 
the execution of your Excellency's commission, a,s 
it is, at present, understood by me. 

I beg leave, however, to state that the subject 
is mvolved in so much obscurity from the prolix 
and complicated arguments, reports and replies 
of the several Commissioners, agents, astronomers 
and surveyors, that I do not like to venture upon 
making a selection for the copyists, though 1 feel 
fully persuaded that this might be advantageously 
done, to the great abridgement of their work, and 
to the expediting of the fulfilment of your wish. 
The Senators from your State, Messrs. Holmes 
and Chandler, have seen the books, and, as well 
I recollect, were furnished with copious extracts 
26 



202 

from them ; and perhaps, they might favor this de- 
partment, through your Excellency, with some sug- 
gestion leading to a convenient curtailment, which 
should, nevertheless, be entirely compatible with 
your Excellency's object, in reference to the copies 
required by you. 



No. 24. 



Letter from the Governor of Maine to Daniel Brent, Esq. of 
the Department of State, of the United States. 

Portland, July 14, 1827. 

Sir, — I had the honour to receive your letter, 
referring me to the Hon. Messrs. Holmes and 
Chandler, as to reducing the amount of the draught 
I bad made on the proffered kindness of the Se- 
cretary of State. I have availed myself of all 
possible benefit from your suggestion ; but am still 
disposed to accept, without reservation, the fa- 
vour he so politely tendered, which is done with 
the greater sense of obligation, because that fa- 
vour cannot embrace the principal objects first 
contemplated, and is therefore rendered more val- 
uable as to the residue. It is also believed that 
Maine ought not to lose the opportunity of placing 
among her archives all those documents which she 
can obtain relating to a concern so important as. 
that of a third of her territory. 



^03 



Extract of a letter from the Governor of Massachusetts to the 
Gove -nor of Maine, dated, Executive Department of Massa- 
chusetts, 

Boston, July 2d, 1827. 

* I beg also to avail myself of this opportunity 
to acknowledge the receipt of several interesting 
communications from your Excellency in refer- 
ence to the northeastern boundary, which will re- 
ceive the most respectful and faithful considera- 
tion. My own opinion of the iaiportance of the 
general views which you have in detail, and with 
great force, presented, on this subject, has been 
heretofore expressed in official communications to 
the Legislature ot this Commonwealth, and in a 
correspondence had with the Department of State 
of the United States.' 



No. 25. 



Letter from the Governor of Maine to the Secretary of State of 
the United States. 

Portland, September 3 J, 1827. 

Sir, — Since I had the honour of addressing you 
on the subject of the northeastern boundary of 
this State, facts have been placed within my 
knowledge which more imperatively than any oth- 
er, urge me to solicit the attention of the Presi- 
dent to the situation in which we arc placed. It 
rs now rendered evident that the representation 



204 

made to you and communicated in your letter of 
the 2/th of March last, that the British government 
has abstained from the performance of any new 
acts which might he construed into an exercise of 
the rights of sovereignty or soil over the disputed 
territory, was entirely incorrect. That represen- 
tation, connected with the recommendation by the 
President, has undoubtedly had much influence 
with Maine in producing a forbearance, which will 
probably be objected against her, in comparison 
with the opposite course by Great Britain, as con- 
taining an implied acknowledgment of the right- 
fulness of the jurisdiction which has been exer- 
cised for years, by a foreign power in the manner 
and to an extent which I beg leave now to ex- 
hibit, as presented to me by credible testimony. 
Along the St. Johns river following it up westward- 
ly from the junction of the Matawascah, is a very 
flourishing settlement containing a considerable 
number of peaceably disposed and industrious in- 
habitants. Among these is a proportion of Amer- 
ican emigrants, some of whom hold their land un- 
der deeds from Massachusetts and Maine, and the 
others, or nearly all of them are anxious to obtain 
titles in the same way. The latter at present oc- 
cupy as tenants at sufferance, and neither recog- 
nize the lands as being Crown lands, nor do they 
voluntarily submit to British authority. These 
persons, the government of Nev^-Brunswick treats 
m ail respects as aliens, denies their right to hold 
real estate, assesses upon them the alien tax, and 



205 

refuses to permit to them the transmission of their 
produce as American. 1 forbear to speak of many 
acts of violence and petty vexation of which they 
also compkiin. The other inhabitants are uniform- 
ly treated as British subjects, and new acts of ju- 
risdiction even to requirement of mihtary duty are 
as frequently exercised as the ordinary operations 
of a municipal control require. Before express- 
ing to you the sentiments which should be con- 
nected with the exhibition of these facts, allow 
me to ask your attention to the sacrifice to which 
Maine is submitting while her formidable adver- 
sary is thus industriously fortifying his positions. 
She owns, as it is believed as clearly as she owns 
any other portion of property, a tract not less than 
six millions of acres, which with the exception of 
about a million and an half situated northeastward 
of the St. John and Matawascah is generally 
valuable for soil and timber, so that the latter 
along one river has been estimated to be worth 
^180,000 00, which is only equal to an average of 
^150 00 per square mile. The use of these vast 
resources is forbidden to her by the circumstance, 
that a claim is made upon it by a foreign power 
and by the respect she entertains for the President's 
recommendation of a mutual forbearance ; yet that 
power is in the mean time applying its jurisdiction 
in the same manner as if the representations of its 
minister created no pledge and no obligations to sus- 
tain their correctness. While it is natural that the 
same power should seek to render the province of 



206 

Nevv-Brimswick wealthy and powerful, by the prize 
it hopes to win, it might have been expected that 
there should be no repugnance between its acts and 
declarations. The case which will be presented, 
must, as you perceive, necessarily require of Maine, 
a consideration of the duties she owes to her cit- 
izens, not left in the condition of neutral subjects 
without government, as has been supposed, but ac- 
tually subjugated. 

To allow our lands to remain uncultivated, and 
our public improvements to be postponed through 
a state necessity, is a sacrifice capable of being 
endured, compared with that of seeing dominion 
usurped over those who owe us allegiance, and to 
whom protection is due. It has been the doctrine 
of the Government, and of a great portion of the 
people of the United States, at times when Great 
Britain was heretofore prosecuting claims against 
this country, more extensive, but not less unjust 
than the present, that an injury to a single citizen 
inflicted a wound upon the body politic, and that 
an evil inflicted upon a part, demanded the making 
a common cause for its remedy. 

In such a sentiment, believed to be now as fully' 
as ever entertained, I find my apology for this re- 
newed appeal for protection of the interests of 
Maine against the reduction of its territory and the 
oppression of its citizens through foreign interpo- 
sition. 

Availing myself of the present opportunity to of- 
fer the President a further view of this subject, 



^07 

which I omitted purposely on former occasions, it 
is flattering to be able to bring in aid the analogy 
of the opinions understood by the nation to have 
been uniformly entertained by our statesmen and 
jurists in the case of the Mississippi. It being as- 
sumed that the protection sohcited will be yielded, 
and that the property demanded cannot be sur- 
rendered in any form, or under any mode of pro- 
cedure, except as superior force may compel sub- 
mission to a cession of State territory, it is natural 
to advert to die value of the property at stake. 
That value is so enhanced as to place it beyond 
calculation when we apply the doctrine applied to 
the navigation of the Mississippi, that the owner- 
ship of the head waters of rivers gives the right of 
free navigation to their sources. The doctrine 
subject to some modification of a political and fis* 
cal character, has the same application under the 
laws of nature and nations, in reference to our 
right of navigation through the St. John, as this 
nation always demanded for it in connection with 
the great question with Spain, which called it into 
view. Let me intreat you, then, to look at once 
to the exciting cause of the cupidity of Great Brit- 
ain, and the anxiety of Maine as to this profligate 
claim. The materials for ship building on the dis- 
puted territory, may be called inexhaustible, and 
the soil is so fertile, that the Matawascah settle- 
ment exports many thousand bushels of grain. 
The towns near the bay of Fundy, both on the 
Scoodic and St. John, under the exclusive policy of 



208 

Great Britain, derive immense annual profits from 
ship building, and they look with an unholy inter- 
est and intent on the extensive forests of Maine. 
If the merits of the case admitted more measured 
terms, I should use them. But believing that all 
posterity would reprobate the weakness of yield- 
ing what is once so rightfully ours, and so impor- 
tant, I use the freedom which the occasion de- 
mands. Beyond what I have urged, let me add, 
that there will be, if you shall defeat the claim 
upon our territory ; a facility of artificial water 
communication which, regarding its extent is un- 
paralleled in the geography of this country. It will 
embrace all the v/aters of the St. John, Penobscot, 
Kennebec, and St. Lawrence. 

If the General Government will employ an agent 
of this State, it will, I am sure, be responsible for 
proving to him the correctness of all I have stated, 
to his entire satisfaction, and in the most authentic 
forms. I cannot close without assuring you of my 
confirmed belief, that Maine will never assent to 
the result of an arbitration unfavourable to her in- 
terests in the great concern in reference to which 
my duty has compelled me to trouble you with my 
repeated communications. 



209 



No. 26. 



Letter from the Secretary of State of the United States, to the 
Governor of Maine. 

Washington, lAth September, 1827. 

Sir : I have received the letter which your Ex- 
cellency did me the iionour to address to me on 
the third instant, and I have lost no time in trans- 
mitting a copy of it to the President of the United 
States, who will no doubt give to it the most res- 
pectful and deliberate examination. In the mean 
time I have also transmitted an extract from it to the 
British Minister, accompanied by the expression that 
the necessary orders will be given, on the part of the 
British Government, to enforce that mutual for- 
bearance from any new acts tending to strengthen 
the claims of either party to the disputed territory, 
which it has been understood in the correspondence 
between Mr. Vaughan and myself, would be ob- 
served on both sides. 



No. 27. 



Letter from the Governor of Maiiie, to the Lieutenant Governor 
of New Brunswick. 

Portland, Oct. 12, 1827. 
Sir : It has been represented to me, as Go- 
vernor of the State of Maine, that one of its citi- 
zens, of the name of John Baker, while residing on 

27 



i 



210 

its territory, has been arrested and is detained in 
gaol at Fredericton. A circumstance so interesting 
to the peace and character of the State and coun- 
try compels me to solicit information which 1 do 
with the respect and amicable disposition due au- 
thorities of a neighbouring government. It is 
hoped that you will be pleased to communicate all 
the facts in the case, and that the result will be to 
allay the anxiety produced by the impression that 
the privileges of an American citizen and the juris- 
diction of a sovereign power has been invaded. 
Maine has not only a wish to be amicably connect- 
ed with New Brunswick, but her interests impel 
her to seek a friendly intercommunication ; yet you 
must be aware that honor and justice demand of 
her the utmost respect and devotion on her part to 
the rights of every citizen. 

The attempt to extend the jurisdiction of New 
Brunswick over the disputed territory will compel 
counteraction from Maine. — The result must be 
productive of so much evil that it is not deemed 
indelicate or disrespectful to advert to it. The 
arrest of our citizens on what we believe to be a 
part of our State will demand its utmost energies 
for resistance. 



211 

No. 28. 

Mr. Daveis^ Appointment. 

STATE OF MAINE. 

Secretary of State's Office, ^ 
Portland, Nov. 5, 1827. ^ 

Charles Stuart Daveis, Esq. Portland. 

Sir : 1 am directed to inform you, that you have 
liiis day been appointed by the Governor of this 
State, an agent, with authority to act in behalf of 
the State of Maine, in obtaining information, either 
informal, or by authenticated statements, as to all 
objects relating to rights of property and jurisdic- 
tion between the governments of the said State, 
and the province of New Bruswick. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your 
most obedient servant, 

AMOS NICHOLS, Secretary of State. 



No. 29, 



Letter from the Governor of the State of Blaine to the Lieutenant 
Governor of New Brunswick. 

Portland, Nov. 5th, 1827. 
Sir : I have the honor to solicit your friendly 
reception of Charles S. Daveis, Esquire, appointed 
to obtain information relative to our border diffi- 
culties. It has been considered due to yourself to 



212 

select, for this Agency, a gentleman of high charac- 
ter, and who in the most acceptable manner, may 
inquire into concerns calculated to produce a war 
between the United States and Great Britain, un- 
less by the forbearance of injuries by New Bruns- 
wick and Maine, it may be prevented. 

In whatever point of view you may regard this 
subject, I have full confidence that you will permit 
Mr. Daveis, if only in the capacity of a stranger 
and a gentleman, to pass with your countenance 
through the territory over which you preside, to 
the different portions of country he may wish to 
visit, for the purpose of ascertaining the facts rela- 
tive to complaints of violence and injustice com- 
mitted on the citizens of Maine. 

This measure has been adopted, not to interrupt, 
but to cherish, the most respectful sentiments, 
and amicable disposition, between all those who 
may be concerned. 

Mr. Daveis' authority does not specially desig- 
nate his object ; but you are requested to consider 
him as fully empowered to demand the release of 
John Baker, a citizen of Maine, said to be confined 
in the Goal at Fredericton, and that the persons, 
who arrested him and conveyed him there, may be 
delivered up to be tried by the laws of this State, 
and dealt with' as justice may require. 



213 



No. 30. 



Letter from the Secretary of State of the United States to the 
Governor of 3Iaine. 

Washington, SOth October, 1827. 

Sir, — I have committed to the charge of Mr. 
Wilham Prentiss, who will have the honour to de- 
liver them and this letter to your Excellency, and 
who is employed for that purpose, twenty-four 
manuscript volumes of books, according to the ac- 
compa»ying list, on the subject of the north and 
northeasterly boundary lines of the United States, 
prepared at this office for the State of Maine, con- 
formably with the suggestions and desire express- 
ed by your Excellency. From the extent of these 
manuscripts, it is more than probable that they em- 
brace copies of a great deal more, in documents, 
discussion and argument, than was in the contem- 
plation of your Excellency, or than was desired 
for the use of your State ; but to secure a full com- 
pliance with your Excellency's views, and to guard 
against any deficiency, I gave directions to have a 
transcript made of every thing which might by 
possibility be useful or interesting upon the occa- 
sion, having the remotest bearing upon the subject, 
with the limitation stated in my previous corres- 
pondence ; and as the selection was necessarily 
committed to others, who may not have had a very 
accurate view of the extent of the Commission 



214 

entrusted to them, it is not improbable that it may 
comprise much which m.ay be found superfluous. 

I send also, forty-two copies of maps, likewise 
prepared with the same views, and under the same 
circumstances, which Mr. Prentiss will also have 
the honour to deliver to your Excellency. 



No. 31. 



.Letter fro7ii the Governor of Maine, to the Secretary of State of 
the United States. , 

Portland, 16th, Nov. 1827. 

Sir, — I have received the documents you caus- 
ed to be transmitted with the satisfaction natur- 
ally excited by so valuable a testimonial of regard 
for the wishes of this State. An attention which 
has occasioned so much trouble, cannot fail to pro- 
duce a strong sentiment of respect, and to call 
into action a proper sensibility, in acknowledg- 
ment of a burdensome service, from those very 
deeply interested in obtaining it. 

I have also this day received your communica- 
tion of the date of the 10th instant. From its 
contents, I am made sensible that the objections 
I have had the honour to urge against the sub- 
mission to a foreign umpire of the territorial and 
jurisdictional rights of Maine, without consuhing 
or advising her as to the conditions, have not been 
deemed available. If any injury shall result to her, 
the appeal will be made to the people of this 



215 

country and to posterity. It has not seemed ar- 
rogant or presumptuous to have expected a recog- 
nition of her rights, and to have asked that if she 
is to be made a sacrifice, she might not be devot- 
ed without some consideration on her part of the 
terms. 

It is not probable that your various important 
engagements can have allowed to my former com- 
munications more than the cursory glance, which 
enables the officer in most cases to dispatch busi- 
ness, especially in those cases in regard to which 
he has marked out his course ; but, to save repe- 
tition, I must ask your indulgence to refer to those 
communications as containing statements and prin- 
ciples near to the hearts and interests of this com- 
munity. When you cautioned us against sugges- 
tions of compromise and acts of precaution, it was 
not believed that it was that you might the more 
easily throw us within the power of an umpire, 
but that you intended to intimate that the powerful 
arm of the federal government was holding its 
ample shield before us. At last we learn that our 
strength, security and wealth are to be subjected 
to the mercy of a foreign individual, who, it has 
been said by your minister, "rarely decides upon 
strict principles of law," and "has always a bias 
to try, if possible, to split the difiference." I can- 
not but yield to the impulse of saying most re- 
spectfully that Maine has not been treated as she 
has endeavoured to deserve. 

The painful duty of laying before you the tes- 



216 

timony to prove the aggressions committed upon 
citizens of this State, by inhabitants of New-Bruns- 
wick, was seasonably discharged. It is feared 
that the violence committed, has been but the 
commencement of a system. The President will 
surely bestow his attention upon the case of John 
Baker, who is stated to have been arrested on 
land conveyed to him in fee simple, in the year 
1825, by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
and the State of Maine. The conveyance was 
virtually a certificate of citizenship and a pledge 
for protection. It was also an act of State policy, 
a deliberate political measure, and the " old Com- 
monwealth" and t4:iis Republic may well call upon 
the President and Secretary of State to be their 
protectors. All those who have contended against 
the impressment of the sailor in our ships, will 
resent the arrest of the yeoman on the frontier. 
Connecting this injury with others, which have 
been suffered and threatened, it has been deemed 
proper to appoint an Agent of the State, to in- 
quire in a friendly and respectful manner, into the 
facts, whose report will enable me to answer fully 
and correctly the questions you have proposed. 
It is with great deference, submitted that every 
investigation of this subject, will satisfy the fede- 
ral government that the representations I have 
had the honour to present, might have been wor- 
thy a serious consideration, which I doubt not 
they have received, although possibly too late. The 
communications to the Lt. Governor of New Bruns- 
wick, and other documents will accompany this letter. 



21T 

No. 32. 
PROCLAMATION. 

STATE or MAINE. 

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MAWE. 
A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it has been made known to this State, that 
one of its citizens has been conveyed from it, by a 
foreign power, to a gaol in the Province of New 
Brunswick ; and that many trespasses have been 
committed by inhabitants of the same Province 
upon the sovereignty of Maine and the rights of 
those she is bound to protect. 

Be it also known, that, relying on the govern- 
ment and people of the Union, the proper exertion 
will be applied to obtain reparation and security. 

Those, therefore, suffering wrong, or threatened 
with it, and those interested by sympathy, on ac- 
count of the violation of our territory and immuni- 
ties, are exhorted to forbearance and peace, so 
that the preparations for preventing the removal 
of our land marks, and guarding the sacred and 
inestimable rights of American citizens may not be 
embarrassed by any unauthorized acts. 

ENOCH LINCOLN. 

BY THE GOVERNOR. 

AMOS NICHOLS, Secretary of State. 

Council Chamber, > 
Portland, Abv. 9, 1827. S 

28 



218 



No. 33. 



Exf}-uct of a letter from the Secretary of State of the United 
States, to the Governor of Maine. 

Washington, 27th Nov. 1827. 

Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of the 
letter which your Excellency did me the honor to 
address to me on the 16th instant, with its accom- 
panyments, all of which have been laid before the 
President. He sees with great regret the expres- 
sion of ihe sentiment of your Excellency, that 
" Maine has not been treated as she has endea- 
voured to deserve." Without engaging, at this 
time, in a discussion of the whole subject of our 
dispute with Great Britain about the northeastern 
boundary of the United States, in which the State 
of Maine is so deeply interested, which would be 
altogether unprofitable, I am sure I shall obtain 
your Excellency's indulgence for one or two gene- 
ral observations which seem called for by the 
above sentiment. 

By the treaty of Ghent, on the contingency 
which unhappily occurred, of a non-occurrence 
between the British and American Commissioners 
in fixing that boundary, they w^ere directed res- 
pectively to report to their Governments, and the 
difference thus left unadpsted was to be referred 
to a sovereign arbitrator. Your Excellency, in the 
course of the correspondence which has passed 
between you and this department, has protested 



219 

against this reference, and your objections to it 
have received the most respectful consideration. 
The fulfilment of solemn obligations imposed upon 
the United States by the faith of treaties; and the 
duty with which the President is charged by the 
constitution, of taking care that the laws (of which 
our treaties with foreign powers form part) be 
faithfully executed, did not appear to leave him at 
liberty to decline the stipulated reference. If any 
other practical mode of settling the differences 
had occurred, or been suggested by your Excel- 
lency, to the President, it would have received 
friendly and deliberate consideration. 

It is certainly most desirable that nations should 
arrange all differences between them, by direct ne- 
gotiation, rather than through the friendly agency 
of third powers. This has been attempted and has 
failed. The Government of the United States is 
fully convinced that the right to the territory in 
dispute is with us and not with Great Britain. The 
convictions of Maine are not stronger in respect to 
the validity of our title, than those which are enter- 
tained by the President. But Great Britain pro- 
fesses to believe the contrary. The parties cannot 
come to the same conclusion. In this state of 
things what ought to be done ? National disputes 
can be settled only amicably or by an appeal to 
the sword. All will agree that before resorting to 
the latter dreadful alternative, every friendly and 
peaceful measure should be tried and have failed. 
It is a happy expedient, where nations cannot 



-220 

themselves adjust their difl'erences, to avail them- 
selves of the umpirage of a friendly and impartial 
power. It multiplies the chances of avoiding the 
greatest of human calamities. It is true that it is 
a mode not free from all objection, and Mr. Gal- 
latin has adverted to one, in the extract which you 
give from one of his dispatches. But objectionable 
as it may be, it is better and not more uncertain 
than the events of war. Your Excellency seems to 
think that the clearness of our right should pre- 
vent the submission of the controversy to an arbi- 
trator. But the other party professes to be equally 
convinced of the indisputable nature of his claim ; 
and if that consideration were to operate on the 
one side, it would equally influence the other. 
The consequence will be at once perceived. Be- 
sides, the clearness of our title will attend it before 
the arbitrator, and, if we are not deceived in it, 
his favourable decision is inevitable. 

The President regrets, therefore, that in con- 
ducting the negotiation with Great. Britain, he 
could not conform to the views of your' Excellency, 
by refusing to carry into effect a treaty, to the ex- 
ecution of which the good faith of the nation stood 
pledged, and which was moreover enjoined by the 
express terms of the Constitution. 

But, if he could have brought himself to disre- 
gard this double obligation under which he is placed, 
how could the interests of Maine have been ad- 
vanced ? Both parties stand pledged to each other 
to practice forbearance, and to abstain from further 



221 

acts of sovereignty on the unoccupied waste, until 
the question of right is settled. If that question 
cannot be settled by the parties themselves, and 
may not be settled by arbitration, how is it to be 
determined ? The remaining alternative has been 
suggested. Whether the time has arrived for the 
use of that, does not belong to the President, but 
to another branch of the Government to decide. 

I cannot but hope that your Excellency, upon a 
review of the whole subject, in a spirit of candor, 
will be disposed to think, that the Executive of the 
United States has been endeavouring with the ut- 
most zeal, in regard to our Northeastern boun- 
dary, to promote the true interests of the United 
States and of the State of Maine ; and that this 
respectable State has been treated neither with 
neglect nor injustice. 



No. 34. 



Letter from the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick to the 
Governor of Maine. 
Fredericton, New Brunswick, i5th Nov. 1827. 

Sir : I have the honour to acknowledge the re- 
ceipt of your Excellency's letter of the 22d Octo- 
ber requesting me to communicate all the circum- 
stances respecting the arrest of the individual named 
in your Excellency's letter. 

It is not for me to question the propriety of your 
Excellency's opening a correspondence with the 



222 

government of this province, on a question now 
pending in negotiation between his Majesty's go- 
vernment and the government of the United States, 
as contracted under the treaty of Ghent; but it 
would neitiier be consistent with my sense of du- 
ty, nor in conformity with my instructions, to give 
the explanations your Excellency requests, to any 
persons excepting those with whom I am directed 
to correspond, or under whose orders I am placed. 

Should any reference be made by the General 
Government of the United States, to his Majesty's 
Minister, upon this or any other matter connect- 
ed with the government of this province, it will 
be my duty to afford his Excellency the fullest in- 
formation to enable him to give whatever explan- 
ation he may deern proper. 

Although for these reasons 1 must decline any 
further correspondence with your Excellency on 
this subject, yet it is in entire unison with the sen- 
timents and disposition which I know to animate 
His Majesty's Government, that I take this occa- 
sion to assure your Excellency of my sincere and 
cordial desire to do all in my power, so far as I 
personally am at liberty, to use any discretion in 
the duties with which I am imperatively charged, 
to meet, with respect and consideration, the ami- 
cable disposition which your Excellency profes- 
ses. I trust my conduct will be found<*to evince 
a just and manifest solicitude to repress and pun- 
ish any acts on the disputed territory, which might 
lead to the interruption of a good understanding 



223 



between the two countries, and to keep the ques- 
tion in a state propitious for a speedy and amica- 
ble adjustment. 



In the Supreme Court Exchequer Side. 

York, to wit. Be it remembered, that Thom- 
as Wetmore, Esq. Attorney-General of our Sove- 
reign Lord the King, for this, his Majesty's pro- 
vince of New-Brunswick, who prosecutes for our 
said Lord the King, comes in his own proper per- 
son into the Court of our said Lord the King be- 
fore the Justices of our said Lord the King, at 
Fredericton, on the seventeenth day of Septem- 
ber, in the eighth year of the Reign of our Sove- 
reign Lord the now King, and for our said Lord 
the King, gives the Court here to understand and 
be informed, — that whereas a certain tract or par- 
cel of land situate in the parish of Kent, in the 
county of York, in the said province, and lying on 
both sides of the river St. John, between the mouth 
of the Madawaska river and the river St. Francis, 
and containing in the whole fifty thousand acres, 
in the hands and possession of our said Lord the 
King, on the first day of February, in the first year 
of his Reign, and before and continually after, was, 
and of right ought to be, and yet ought to be, in 
the right of his Imperial Crown of the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and as part 
of the Dominions of our said Lord the King, in 



224 

this province : and for so long a lime as there is 
no remembrance of any man to the contrary, has 
been in the possession of the said Lord the King, 
and his predecessors, the Kings and Queens of 
Great Britain and Ireland, and a part of the Do- 
minions of the said Crown. — Nevertheless, one 
John Baker, of the parish aforesaid, in the county 
aforesaid, farmer, the laws of the said Lord the King 
in no wise regarding, but intending the disherision 
of the said Lord the King in the premises, on the 
first day of February, in the second year of the 
Reign of our said present Sovereign Lord the 
King, and on divers days and times, before and 
since, with force and arms and without any law- 
ful authority, in and upon the possession of the said 
Lord the King, of a part of his said lands, to wit, 
one hundred acres thereof, lying on the westerly 
side of the Land Turtle or Mariumpticook river, a 
branch of the said river St. John, at the parish afore- 
said, in the county aforesaid, intruded and entered 
and erected and built thereon a certain house and 
other edifices, and cut and felled divers, to wit, 
fiive hundred timber and other trees thereon stand- 
ing and growing, of the value together of one 
hundred pounds, and took and carried away the 
timber and wood arising from the said trees, and 
of his own will disposed thereof, and the issues 
and profits of the same lands accruing, received, 
and had, and yet doth receive and have to his own 
use and still holds and keeps possession of the 
lands ; and the said trespass aforesaid hitherto and 



225 

yet continuing to the great annoyance of our said 
Lord the King, in contempt of our said Lord the 
King — and contrary to the laws and against the 
peace of our said Lord the King. 

Whereupon the said Attorney-General of our 
said Lord the King, for the said Lord the King, 
prays the advice of the Court here in the premi- 
ses, and that the aforesaid John Baker come here 
to answer the said Lord the King in the premises. 
(Signed,) T. WETMORE, Attorney- General. 

Indorsed, J. M. BLLSS : 

Examined by me, and certified to be a true 
copy, 

T. R. Wetmore, Clerk to the Attorney-General. 
28th November, 1827. 



STATE OF MAINE, 

Office of the Secretary of State, \ 
Portland, Feb. 18, 1828. ] 

It is hereby certified that the Documents contained in this 
Pamphlet have been compared with the originals, records and 
copies, remaining in this Office, and appear to be correctly print- 
ed. 

A. ^ICnOh^, Secretary of State. 
29 



REPORT 



CHARLES S. DAVEIS, ESCt. 



AGENT APPOINTED BY THE EXECUTIVE 



OF THE 



STATE OF MAINE, 



To inquire into and report upon certain facts relating to aggres- 
sions upon the rights of the State, and of individ- 
ual citizens thereof, by inhabitants of the 
province of New-BrunswicTc. 



PORTLAND : 

Printed by order of the Legislature. 

1828. 



STATE OF MAINE. 



In Senate, Feb. 6, 1828. 
The Joint Select Committee to whom was referred the com- 
munication from the Governor of the 2d inst. with the Report oi 
the Agent, appointed by the Executive of this State, to inquire 
into and Report upon certain facts relating to aggressions upon 
the rights of the State of Maine, and of individual citizens there- 
of by inhabitants of the province of New-Brunswick, and also 
the accompanying documents, have carefully examined the same 
and recommend that Five hundred copies of the Report of the 
said Agent be printed ; three hundred thereof for the use of the 
members of the Legislature and the remaining two hundred to be 
disposed of at the pleasure of the Governor : the Committee also 
recommend the passage of the Resolve, which is herewith sub- 
mitted. 

JOHN L. MEGQUIER, Chairman. 



In Senate, Feb. 6, 1828. 
Read and accepted — Sent down for concurrence. 

ROBERT P. DUNLAP, President. 



House of Representatives, Feb 7, 1828. 
The House so far concur with the Senate as to accept that 
part of the Report which relates to the printing and distribution 
of the aforesaid Agent's Report. 

JOHN KUGGhE^, Speaker. 



REPORT. 



Portland, January 31, 1828. 

Sir, — I have already acquained your Excellen- 
cy with my proceedings at Fredericton, and the 
manner in which I had performed the duty assign- 
ed to me by your appointment, within the province 
of New-Brunswick. 

In pursuance of the further appointment to in- 
quire into the nature of aggressions complained 
of as having been committed by inhabitants of 
New-Brunswick upon persons residing near the 
frontier, within the hmits of this State, I endea- 
voured to prosecute the inquiry and to obtain cor- 
rect information by the best means that were in 
my power. In the actual condition in which your 
Excellency will perceive the whole inhabited por- 
tion of the country bordering upon the river St. 
John or any of its branches, within our boundary, 
or the region that is now termed disputed territory, 
to be, it will be for your Excellency to judge with 
what benefit I could have proceeded to the high- 
est points of American settlement, without the 
advantage of a sanction from the adjoining author- 
ity. It happened, however, that I was enabled in 



230 

company with the gentleman appointed to make 
corresponding inquiries by the President of the 
United States, to see several persons, who had 
come to Houlton from the country above the river 
Madawaska, in consequence of the state of things 
there existing, or who were engaged in opening a 
winter road, as a communication for the people 
living on the river Aroostook, direct to that plan- 
tation. The statements of these persons were 
taken under oath, at my request, before a magis- 
trate of the county of Washington. Other testi- 
mony has been also collected in the same form by 
another respectable magistrate of the same coun- 
ty, among the settlers on the Aroostook : and oth- 
er evidence has likewise been obtained, from 
which your Excellency may be able in some mea- 
sure to fill up the outline thus exhibited in regard 
to the true state of affairs in that quarter, it is 
proper for me to say that I should not have been 
deterred from undertaking to complete it, by any 
apprehension of inconvenience ; but my situation 
was not perfectly free from embarrassment ; time 
had been consumed by circumstances beyond my 
expectation or control, and obstacles existed to 
my progress, which would have rendered it dif- 
ficult to procure positive testimony any where in 
the district of country upon the river St. John, ex- 
tending above the river Madawaska. 

The first course of inquiry relates to the condi- 
tion of settlers on the river Aroostook. The rights 
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts were ex- 



231 

ercised upon the territory situated on this river, 
at a very early period after the source of the St. 
Croix was settled under the Convention of 1794. 
In executing this Convention it was distinctly ad- 
mitted by the representatives of the British go- 
vernment in this country, that the boundary hue 
of the treaty of 1783 crossed the St. John. Grants 
were accordingly made by the legislature of Mas- 
sachusetts of sections of land, embracing both 
banks of the Aroostook and bordering on the boun- 
dary line, namely — one to the town of Plymouth 
and one to General Eaton. Locations of these 
lands were made, and surveys were commenced 
under the authority of Massachusetts, and lines 
were run around one of the tracts, more than 
twenty years ago ; and lottings were made in the 
year 1812. 

These acts were performed in the presence of the 
Provincial Government established on the borders 
of the river St. John. That stream afforded the 
only communication then open to this country, and 
thence supplies and assistants were procured for 
the purpose of making the above survey in 1806 
or 1807. It is not known that any further acts 
were exercised on behalf of the original proprie- 
tors of these granted lands, or that any improve- 
ments were m^de upon them prior to the late war 
with Great Britain. The further occupation of 
this remote frontier for the purpose of agriculture 
was necessarily suspended during that period ; nor 
is it known, that there was a single settler of any 



232 

description upon the Aroostook, when this interrup- 
tion ceased, at the conclusion of peace in 1815. 
This event was succeeded by a course of seasons 
and circumstances unfavourable to the progress of 
population and improvement in that quarter ; and 
also by the measures which ensued for the separa- 
tion of Maine. Upon the establishment of this State, 
the survey of this section of country was resumed 
by a joint commission of the two States, for the 
purpose of dividing their common property, pursu- 
ant to the provisions of the act of separation, ac- 
cording to the direction of their respective legisla- 
tures. The progress of these surveys was observed 
in the province of New Brunswick, and they have 
been extended over nearly all the country in the 
territory of Maine watered by the Aroostook. 

It was discovered, that trespasses were committed 
on this territory by persons belonging to the pro- 
vince, in cutting timber. Opportunity had existed 
for pursuing such practices with impunity, in the 
opei) and unguarded state of the country, from the 
ease of access thereto by persons engaged in that 
business from the river St. John. This operation 
was arrested by the authority of this State, and 
partial indemnity obtained for the trespasses that 
had taken place, and, upon objection being made, 
the practice of granting licenses for this purpose, 
which it was presumed had issued improvidently, 
was relinquished by the government of New Bruns- 
wick. Subsequent to the last census, and the 
adoption of the above proceedings by the authority 



2S3 

of this State, in connection with Massachusetts, a 
number of persons, some citizens of the United 
States, and others formerly belonging to the British 
provinces, principally descendants of persons born 
in this country, out of the province of New Bruns- 
wick, before the revolution, have settled on this 
territory. A few foreigners are intermixed with 
the Americans, and a small number of Irish are 
understood to have planted themselves in the neigh- 
bourhood of the line. Some seem to have gone 
on under the persons who have cut timber. With 
whatever impression the original trespassers may 
have gone on, the present settlers appear to have 
estabhshed themselves generally in that country 
under the opinion, that it was American territory. 
Tiiey understood that they were within the boun- 
dary line, as it had been repeatedly run. They 
were so informed by respectable persons, and as* 
sured to the same effect by public agents. They 
learned that a part of the land had been granted 
by the government, and knew that the country was 
surveyed by the States ; and their object was to 
obtain title of confirmation to their possessions, 
either from the proprietor or the States. It is 
believed that these remarks apply to all the native 
Americans ; and the only exceptions to them are 
understood to be individuals of foreign extraction. 
The population of this settlement is represented to 
be of the same general description, which has been 
formed on the new American settlements in the 
vicinity of Houlton. The traits of character by 
30 



234 

which their appearance and conduct are chiefly 
marked, are industry, activity, hardihood, sense, 
and honesty. 

These settlers have only an equitable title to 
their lands, some of which they have cleared up 
and cultivated, and from which they have taken 
good crops for several successive seasons. They 
have made some attempts to avail themselves of 
the advantages afforded upon their streams for the 
erection of gristmills, which have not been fortu- 
nate ; and their means for this purpose aje quite 
inadequate. 

The settlers of this section have been peculiarly 
situated. They are nearly isolated from the rest 
of the community. They have not enjoyed the 
benefit of any legal magistracy, nor the advantage 
of any internal intercourse, being surrounded with 
wilderness except by the circuitous course of the 
St. John, towards Houlton. The connexions of 
these people have been necessarily with that river, 
where they have sought a market or conveyance 
for their produce, and whence they have been 
obliged to derive their supplies. The American 
inhabitants, whose concerns have carried them to- 
wards the river St. John, have been exposed to 
a system of municipal regulations or inhibitions, 
operating on articles of domestic produce, and 
subjecting it to seizure any where in its transit, 
the manner in which some of these regulations 
have been put in force will appear from affidavits 
of persons belonging a considerable distance below 



235 

the Aroostook. Instances of this description are 
complained of as numerous ; but as they principally 
relate to acts of authority performed within the 
province of New Brunswick, as some of the offices 
which produced these vexations have been abol- 
ished, and as some modification has lately taken 
place in the provisions of province law on this 
subject, the effect of vvhich is not fully understood^ 
the enquiry has not been extended how far they 
have been applied to any individuals above. Sei- 
zures, however, under some pretext, seem to have 
been committed on the Aroostook. 

The settlers upon the AroostooJi, in addition to 
their ordinary privations, have been affected by 
the general depression occasioned by the recent 
embarrassment of business and injury to credit 
among the larger dealers upon the river St. John ; 
and it is natural to suppose that they may have 
thus found it diliicult to obtain the means to 
satisfy debts, generally small, which they owe upon 
the river ; and they are not able to defray the ex- 
penses attached there to litigation. On the other 
hand, the American territory has afforded them no 
asylum. No acts of pretended authority, however, 
in violation of the jurisdiction of this State, under 
pretext of judicial power, are known to have taken 
place until a comparatively late period. Mr. 
George Morehouse resides at Tobique, on the op- 
posite bank of the St. John, within a parish re- 
cently formed by the name of Kent ; he formerly 
bore the commission of a ,subaltern officer in the 



236 

army ; and at present it is stated actually exer* 
cises a commission of the peace for the county 
of York. For two or three years past he appears 
to have been in the habit of issuing precepts di- 
rected to the Constables of the parish of Kent, for 
the recovery of small demands, against inhabitants 
on the Aroostook. One other person, supposed to 
be a provincial magistrate, is mentioned as having 
issued a single precept in like manner ; and service 
of these precepts is made upon inhabitants many 
miles within the boundary line, by persons under- 
taking to act as Constables of the parish of Kent. 
The manner in which these persons proceed to 
execute their oflices, some with more mildness and 
civility, and one who is represented as generally 
coming armed, and treating them with greater 
harshness, is detailed in several affidavits. In the 
execution of these precepts it appears that the cat- 
tle and moveables of the inhabitants are subjected 
to be taken and immediately carried away, to be 
disposed of within the British territory ; and that 
the practice is extended to take articles of property 
belonging to the debtor, which are exempted from 
attachment and execution by the laws of this State. 
In one instance it appears, that the same cow, 
being the last and only one, was taken twice on a 
warrant or warrants from Mr. Morehouse, issued 
on the same demand, the second seizure being on 
account of costs. The inhabitants themselves 
})ave also been arrested on these precepts, and not 
being able to find bail where none could be legally 



237 

taken, are removed as fast as possible over the 
lines to places of safety within the province, where 
they may be able to procure sureties, or settle the 
debts, or otherwise make their peace with the of- 
ficer or the magistrate. 

This practice appears to have prevailed with 
some frequency. One or two cases appear to have 
occurred in connexion with this practice of Mr. 
Morehouse in which precepts have been served, 
either from him or from authority further below, 
by a Mr. Craig, Deputy Sheriff of the county of 
York. One of the settlers on the Aroostook was 
solicited by Mr. Morehouse to act as constable for 
the parish of Kent, but after being qualified by 
him, declined to serve. It is possible, that instan- 
ces have occurred, in which settlers above the 
line, from want of other resort, may have been 
led incautiously, or from different motives induced, 
to apply to Mr. Morehouse. 

But the difficulties to which the inhabitants 
have been subjected in consequence of this prac- 
tice, the disproportionate amount of expenses, at- 
tached to the collection of small demands, and 
the certainty of the law, as they consider it to be 
administered by Mr. Morehouse, seem to have 
produced an endeavor to adjust disputes among 
themselves, by a species of submission to referees, 
and thereby avoid the authority undertaken to be 
exercised among them by the officers of the parish 
of Kent or the county of York. 

That this state of things should have resulted in 



238 

the coUisions, that have occurred between the per- 
sons (iespatched by Mr. Morehouse and the people 
living' on the Aroostook, is rather a subject of re- 
gret than a matter of surprise. In the absence of 
any regular administration of justice, having adop- 
ted the principle of an equitable arbitration, to 
which they undertook to yield voluntary deference, 
the inconvenience of having its first operation 
overruled by the order of Mr. Morehouse seems 
to have led to a sort of after consideration or in- 
quiry respecting the bounds of the parish of Kent ; 
and consequently into a question concerning the 
applicability of Mr. Morehouse's authority within 
the American boundary. Admitting that authori- 
ty to extend to the settlement on the Aroostook, 
the opposition into which Dalton and others, who 
undertook to aid Arnold in the recovery of his cow, 
were betrayed, would be clearly without justifica- 
tion. At all events it is obvious, that the state of 
doubt which has thus been cast upon their condi- 
tion, has led to the unfortunate consequences of 
irregular reprisal ; and however it may be deemed 
a measure of venial offence against unauthorized 
asTSression, it has involved the well meaning and 
otherwise unoffending inhabitants of this settle- 
ment in the evils of a state of border warfare. 
Several illustrative details are exhibited in the af- 
fidavits. The inhabitants of the Aroostook, while 
they have thus been subject to process from Mr. 
Morehouse, do not seem to have been considered 
' by him as being entitled to the protection of the 



239 

government which he undertakes to personate. 
Early last spring he appeared among them, and 
forbid their working on the lands and continuing 
their usual labours of clearing and cultivation, to 
get a livmg. He posted up written notices to this 
effect on the Eaton grant, and in different places ; 
and marked some small parcels of lumber, which 
they had cut, for seizure. It was shortly after 
this period that George Field, whose affidavit is 
exhibited, appears to have left the country in con- 
sequence, as he says, of the inconveniences to 
which he was exposed, and went with his family 
to Houlton. These settlers seem to have been 
generally regarded by Mr. Morehouse in some light 
as a sort of outlaws, or wild people, who had no 
proper habitancy, and were liable to be dealed 
with in any manner that might please the province 
of New-Brunswick or its proper officers. In no 
legal light do they seem to have been regarded 
as subjects, except as trespassers and intruders oa 
crown lands, liable to judicial process ; and under 
colour of some such character, measures appear to 
have been subsequently applied to divest them of 
their property, and expel them from their posses- 
sions. 

Early in the month of July last, Daniel Craig 
came with the first writ from Mr. Morehouse to 
take the cow that Arnold had of M'Crea ; and also 
delivered summonses to the settlers to appear 
forthwith before the Court, which was then on the 
point of sitting at Fredericton, to answer to the 



240 

King oi' Great Britain, in pleas of trespass and in- 
trusion on crown lands. This process was served 
by him indiscriminately on all the inhabitants, in- 
cluding the citizens of the United States, as well 
as those born in the provinces, or others. This 
sudden proceeding naturally produced a state of 
confusion and consternation among the settlers. 
No time was aftbrded them to deliberate. It was 
necessary to set out immediately in order to ar- 
rive in season. Some concluded to go, and others 
determined to stay. Some proceeded part way, 
and then returned home. Others kqpt on their 
journey to Fredericton ; among whom were some 
of the Americans. Those,, who continued to the 
end, were subjected to severe privations, and were 
obhged to remain several days, without means of 
support, or being able to obtain any other satisfac- 
tion, than that it would be necessary to appear 
again the present winter. The narrative of these 
circumstances is contained in some of the affida- 
vits, and may suffice to convey an impression of 
the embarrassment and distress occasioned among 
these settlers by the service of this process. 

The affair which followed soon after respecting 
the taking and retaking of the cow, which was 
adjudged by the referees to belong to Arnold, on 
the warrant of Mr. Morehouse, accompanied with 
a sense of their having exposed themselves to his 
displeasure, and perhaps to the whole force of au- 
thority from New-Brunswick, operated with the me- 
naces of the constable employed on that occasion,- 



241 

and the conduct of the Irishmen at the Unes, and 
the reports which they received now and then 
from below, to keep the inhabitants of Aroostook 
in a continual state of agitation and alarm. They 
were particularly threatened with a visit by a larger 
party than the former, to punish those who were 
engaged in that affray, and put an end to any fur- 
ther spirit of opposition by destroying all means of 
resistance, or removing the inhabitants from the 
settlement. The reality of the apprehensions en- 
tertained by the persons who were concerned in 
that affair, is attested by the circumstances of their 
being afraid to occupy their own habitations, 
lodging about in different places, in barns, or in 
the woods, mustering together for the night in 
larger or smaller parties, or separating for great- 
er security. The statements of several of the set- 
tlers on this subject relate to particulars within 
their experience or knowledge. 

A circumstance, that may seem not to have di- 
minished the ground of these apprehensions, oc- 
curred some time in the month of November last. 
The dwelling of Ferdinand Armstrong was enter- 
ed about break of day by a small party from be- 
low, who seized his brother James Armstrong, 
soon after he had risen from bed, and conveyed 
him in a canoe, without loss of time, out of the 
territory. He was obliged to give up articles of 
wearing apparel, and part with what means he had, 
in order to obtain his release, the party pretending 
to have authority to compel payment of a debt 
31 



242 

and costs. Threats were also uttered that men 
and horses were coming up the first sledding, 
to take those who were concerned in the of- 
fence about taking the cow away. Richard In- 
man, who was particularly mentioned as of the com- 
ing party, appears to be one of the persons pre- 
viously employed by Mr. Morehouse, and whom 
the settlers were most afraid of, in consequence 
of his practice of visiting them with arms. 

In consequence of these occurrences and im- 
pressions, the inhabitants of the Aroostook have 
been afraid to go down to the river Saint John, 
either to mill, or to obtain their necessary sup- 
plies, and have undertaken the present winter to 
effect a communication with Houlton, by cutting 
out a road altogether within the American terri- 
tory. They were employed upon it the last of 
December, and judged they were about abreast 
of Mars hill, and hoped to accomplish it in about 
thirty working days. The pioneers employed to 
ma.rk out the direction had found their way out at 
Foxcroft, after enduring intense cold, and suffering 
most severe hardships. 

The condition of the inhabitants of the Aroostook 
may be shortly summed up. They are of the same 
general description as those that have made pur- 
chases and improvements within the new townships 
or plantations on the American territory, living in 
the neighbourhood of ench other and of the river 
St. John. They are upon land, of which grants 
and surveys were commenced several years ago, 



243 

sometime before the war with Great Britain, under 
the authority of Massachusetts, without remon- 
strance or objection from New Brunswick. They 
have settled upon the territory along thirty miles 
into the interior, without title, subject to the rights 
of the proprietor or the proprietaries, and to the laws 
ofthis State, then established. They acknowledge 
its authority, and, as it would seem to follow, are 
entitled to its protection. 

The authority of New Brunswick cannot apply 
to them on the ground, that any of them had been 
formerly inhabitants of that province, any more 
than that of Maine extends to its citizens in New 
Brunswick. A government has no power to cause 
precepts to be executed upon its own subjects in a 
foreign jurisdiction. The Government of the Unit- 
ed States shffelds aliens who are residents, and are 
well affected towards its principles, and wish to 
become citizens. But several of them are Ameri- 
can citizens. 

The actual survey and occupation of this whole 
country, under the public authority of Maine and 
Massachusetts, were entitled to consideration from 
the province of New Brunswick. These acts were 
at least to be respected, as assertions of right, on 
the part of those two States; and some regard 
might have been had to the circumstance, that this 
right was originally exercised under ignorance of 
any adverse claim, and long before any was ad- 
vanced. On the other hand, no act had ever been 
exercised on this territory by the government of 



244 

New Brunswick, except in permitting its subjects 
to cut timber the same as on crown lands. 

So irregular a practice could not be sanctioned 
or sustained ; and in compliance with the sense of 
the superior government, it is supposed, that the 
pretension was relinquished as untenable, with a 
fairness of profession which gave it credit. The 
power of removing the trees from the territory, 
brought into dispute, has been abandoned ; and a 
new practice has taken place, to wit, that of re- 
moving the people there planted. If this principle 
can be supported, it abrogates the whole authority 
of the State of Maine over this portion of its 
territory 

The next course of inquiry relates to the state of 
things upon the ' territory of Maine upon the river 
St. John, within the boundary line, \^hich crosses 
that river, about three miles above the grand Falls, 
where the navigation of the river, is interrupted, 
and where it was contemplated on the part of 
Great Britain, in determining the St. Croix, that 
the meridian would cross. It may be proper, in 
the first place, to advert to the situation of a colo- 
ny ot French settlers which planted themselves 
within our territory, principally, if not entirely, 
since the acknowledgment and establishment of 
the bounds of Massachusetts, by the treaty of 1783. 
This settlement was composed of ancient French * 
neutrals, who had originally endeavoured to escape i 
from the government of Nova Scotia, or of their 
descendants, who had been expelled from their 



245 

farms and improvements on the establishment of 
the province of New Brunswick ; and who have 
been joined from time to time by their country- 
men from Canada, who have not chosen to con- 
tinue under the government established on its 
conquest. 

It is not known whether any individual of Euro- 
pean origin existed on this territory at the peace 
of 1782; nor that excepting aboriginals, any other 
than descendants of French ancestors had made 
any occupation, prior to the peace of 1815. The 
Acadians had retired with the Indians from the 
presence of the population, which took possession 
of that ancient part of Nova Scotia, after it was 
yielded to Great Britain and settled by emigrants 
from the United States, who adhered to the British 
government ; and have always lived in great har- 
mony among themselves, as a distinct race, pre- 
serving their own language, habits, and manners. 
Situated near the borders of the American terri- 
tory, at a distance from any officers of government, 
they appear to have also preserved theif neutral 
character, and to have remained as a people by 
themselves, so far as they might be permitted by 
their position toward the province of Nfew Bruns- 
wick. Without having any sympathy with the 
system established in that government, they have 
not been in a condition to oppose the exercise of 
any power that might be exerted over them. Lit- 
tle occasion could be presented for the employment 
of criminal process, among the relics of a primi- 



246 

tive population, represented as of a " mild, frugal, 
industrious, and pious character," desirous of find 
ing a refuge under the patriarchal and spiritual 
power of their religion. It has been customary for 
them to settle their civil affairs of every descrip- 
tion, including their accidental disputes and differ- 
ences among themselves, by the aid of one or two 
arbiters or. umpires, associated with the Catholic 
Priest, who is commonly a missionary from Canada. 
Without any predilection toward a foreign faith or 
power, they have had a natural desire to be quieted 
in their possessions ; and it is stated that one or 
two of them, under circumstances not exactly 
known, either obtained or accepted grants of cer- 
tain parcels of their property at an early period 
from the province. The propriety of relinquishing 
any practice of that kind, after the determination 
of the St. Croix, was obvious; and the benefit of 
a sanction might have been allowed to the previ- 
ous facts of this description, without attaching to 
them any injurious motive or effect. The whole 
country, however, not in actual possession of any 
cultivator, was considered by the French settlers 
as open to occupation at the period of the last 
peace with England. 

♦ In 1817 an American was invited to seat him- 
self near the mouth of the Madawaska river, where 
he was assured that no one had any right of pro- 
perty, and when it was afterwards claimed by vir- 
tue of a title, the fact was denied by the Indians on 
the ground that the right belonged to them. This 



247 

American, one who went from Kennebec, accord- 
ingly moved away from the place which he first took, 
to a situation near the St. Francis, where' he still 
lives, unless recently removed. 

It appears that a military post formerly existed 
at the Grand Falls, immediately below the boun- 
dary; and it is said that a militia authority was 
exercised among the inhabitants of Madawaska. 
Some power of this kind might perhaps have been 
used at an early period, before the territory was ex- 
plored and the boundary of New Brunswick deter- 
mined under the convention of 1794; and it is not 
probable, that the French would have resisted any 
measure taken to compel them to train as militia. 
The works at the Grand Falls have been suffered 
to go to decay ; and there is no reason to presume 
th^t a superfluous military organization was main- 
tained among the remote inhabitants of Madawaska. 

It is not presumable that any usurpation of that 
nature existed for a long period ; especially after 
the settlement was known to fall within the Ame- 
rican territory. If such an use of form or force 
was continued however, it is to be enquired whe- 
ther it can be viewed in any other light than that 
of aggression upon the rights of the State, and 
those under its jurisdiction, and entitled to its pro- 
tection. The recent formation of militia compa- 
nies in that district presents itself as an act of the 
same character ; and it is reported that a foreigner, 
by the name of Francis Rice has stationed himself 
in this settlement, and undertakes to act as an 
adjutant of the militia of New Brunswick. 



248 

Difterence of religious faith and diversity of 
habits have naturally tended to prevent an inter- 
mixture between the American and French popula- 
tion. The country in general above as well as be- 
low the river Madawaska, has taken the popular de- 
scription of that river, and the name is generally 
made use of by the Americans residing upon the 
higher and more remote branches of the St. John. 
The Madawaska settlement extends several miles 
down the branch of the St. John, below the mouth 
of the Madawaska river. Several settlers were 
also scattered above, and a space existed of several 
miles above the mouth of that river, which has re- 
cently been occupied by French settlers, some 
from Canada, and others from the settlement be- 
low, and formed into a new settlement by the name 
of Chateauqua. They have undertaken to erect 
a church, and it is stated that a militia company 
has been formed among them, by authority out of 
this State. This new settlement extends from the 
mouth of the Madawaska river to the vicinity of 
the mouth of the Mariumticook stream, where the 
American settlement, properly so called, com- 
mences. Whether any foreign measures have been 
taken in forwarding the progress of the new French 
settlement, is not known. They are without titles 
to their lands except by occupation, and they have 
not been disturbed in their possession. Fines, 
however, have been imposed upon some of them 
for refusing to perform militia duty, from abroad, 
during the past year, without regarding the objec- 



249 

tion that has been made among them to train, 
on the ground of their being within the American 
government. 

The situation of the recent settlement seems to 
merit some attention, from the circumstance of its 
now forming the connecting hnk between the for- 
mer French settlement below, and the American 
settlement immediately above. It is also brought 
into notice by the attention apparently bestowed 
upon it by the province of New-Brunswick, which 
extends the demand of militia duty as high as this 
settlement, and considers all the Americans who 
are settled above it as aliens. It may be proper 
to remark in this place, that any occupation, which 
the government of New-Brunswick may have held 
within the American territory, being without right, 
and against right, its operation is not to be enlarg- 
ed by any favourable construction. 

Before passing from the consideration of the 
French settlement in this State, it may be proper 
to remark, that the population of the whole com- 
munity, according to the census taken by the au- 
thority of the United States in 1820, amounted to 
over eleven hundred. The computation probably 
included a number of American settlers, who had 
come into the country not long before, and were 
enrolled in the same manner with them in the 
body of American citizens. If since that period 
any of these persons have been indu<jed to go into 
the province, in order to give their votes ; if pro- 
32 



260 

vincial magistrates have been allowed to send civ- 
il process into this settlement ; if" individuals have 
been employed to officiate in executing the pro- 
vincial police ; these can only be view^ed as acts, 
which it is extremely difficult to reconcile with 
sentiments of respect lor the opinion signified by 
the government of the United States. After this 
French settlement was found to fall within the 
survey of the American boundary, these settlers, 
being in no other sense to be regarded as British 
subjects than as they might happeii to reside in 
British territory, it would have manifested a decent 
respect to the authority of the United States, be- 
yond the most repeated exterior demonstration, to 
have abstained from direct exercises of supreme 
jurisdiction. 

The first American settlement was made above 
the French, and commenced from the clearest in- 
formation, in the year 1817. It consisted of sev- 
eral persons then citizens of Massachusetts, who 
moved from the Kennebec, and established them- 
selves with their families on dilferent spots, the 
lowest at the mouth of the IVIariumticook, and the 
highest not far from the mouth of the St. Francis. 
It was well known in the province of New-Bruns- 
wick, that these emigrants considered they were 
on American territory, and that their object was 
to obtain a title under the American government. 
It was also understood that they carried with them 
a magistrate, and that they intended to procure an 
incorporation. Whether any, or what measures 



251 

may have been taken by persons within the pro- 
vince, acting npon this information, it is not with- 
in my power to detail. It may be remarked, 
h6wever, that according to the best account, the 
whole territory of which they entered into occu- 
pation, was previously uninhabited, and unim- 
proved. The provincial government had never 
made any grant above the river Madawaska. The 
American settlers on the St. John were above any 
French settler. They and their assigns have since 
continued in the occupation of their lands, and a 
portion of the original settlers still remain. 

In 1825, grants were made by George W. Cof- 
fin and James Irish, Esquires, acting as joint agents 
for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and State 
of Maine, by virtue of resolves of the respective 
Legislatures, bearing date February 26, and June 
11, 1825, to John Baker and James Bacon, seve- 
rally, describing them as inhabitants of a planta- 
tion called and known by the name of the Mada- 
waska settlement, in the county of Penobscot, sit- 
uate upon the river St. John. The land granted 
to Baker was described as beginning at Marium- 
ticook stream or point on the St. John river, and 
bounded to contain an hundred acres. This was 
the same point of land which was originally taken 
up by his brother, Nathan Baker, one of the ori- 
ginal emigrants from Kennebec, then deceased. It 
was a mill seat, where there have been erected a 
saw mill and a grist mill. John Baker married his 
brother's widow, and has brought up his family. 



252 

He has been building a new house, which would 
have been finished last fall. The land granted to 
Bacon was below the ^rant to Baker, between the 
point and the new French settlement. Since the 
foundation of the American settlement before men- 
tioned, a number of other American settlers had 
taken possession, and made improvements, with- 
out interfering, except by purchase, with any pre- 
vious occupation. 

The Land Agents of Massachusetts and Maine 
appointed provisionary Agents, with authority to 
grant permits to cut pine timber on the territory of 
the United States. Without a permission of this 
kind, it may be noticed, the mill at the mouth of 
the Mariumticook would have been useless. The 
government of New-Brunswick became informed 
of this fact. A considerable quantity of lumber, 
partly purchased by John Baker before mentioned, 
and partly made at his mill, was afterwards seized 
in passing down the river St. John. Timber cut 
on crown lands within the province, by British 
subjects, was allowed to be redeemed by paying a 
certain duty. This composition was a privilege 
denied to Baker, whose property on that occasion 
appears to have been confiscated on the ground 
that he was not a British subject. All the Ameri- 
cans settled above the river Madawaska, are re- 
garded as aliens by the provincial government of 
New-Brunswick ; and a certain fine or tax has 
been demanded of them, called the alien tax. 
This is a species of joint military and civil action, 



253 

exercised in the first place by provincial officers 
of militia, and enforced by Justices of the Peace. 
One or two cases have occurred, in which precepts 
have been sent among the American settlers on 
civil suits, by Mr. Morehouse, who resides upwards 
of fifty miles below, on the river St. John. On 
one occasion, an American above Chateauqua was 
arrested on a warrant from Mr. Morehouse, on a 
charge of larceny by one of the settlers ; but the 
evidence against him being insufficient, no final 
proceedings took place, and he was discharged. 
The real culprit was afterwards discovered, and 
on his confession the Americans were proceeding 
to conduct him to Houlton, nearly an hundred 
and forty miles distant ; but on their way he made 
his escape in the woods. — The American settlers 
have been subject to these and similar inconven- 
iences, no doubt, in consequence of the absence 
of any civil officers, such as were recommended 
to be appointed by the Land Agents ; and occa- 
sions have thus been afforded for admitting the 
agency of Mr. Morehouse, as a civil magistrate, 
which would not otherwise have existed ; and for 
which some possible apology might be found in 
the circumstances of the country. An exercise 
of this intrusive authority, however, in the course 
of the past year, appears to have given rise to a 
species of opposition among the Americans, which 
was construed by Mr. Morehouse as resistance to 
his authority. 

It appears that some difficulty took place in 



254 

procuring the service of a writ which was sent by 
Mr. Morehouse against James Bacon ; and it may 
be suitable to state the circumstances accompany- 
ing that transaction. It seems, that reflection on 
their situation, combined with a sense of the in- 
convenience to which they were exposed, from 
the acts of Mr. Morehouse, led to an understand- 
ing among them to avoid any employment of his 
authority ; and, having no regular magistrate, to 
endeavour to settle their affairs, as well as they 
could, among themselves. The unfavourable opi- 
nion cherished by Mr. Morehouse, in respect to 
the Americans at that settlement, may have con- 
tributed to increase their aversion ; and his occa- 
sional visits to view their proceedings may have 
tended to strengthen a mutual dislike. Mr. More- 
house had formerly demanded Bacon's deed from 
the Agents, and knew the title under which he 
held. He had also made inquiry into the authori- 
ty given to Bacon by the Land Agents, respecting 
the cutting of timber, and satisfied himself on that 
subject. Recently he sent a person with a writ, 
to arrest Bacon, on a small demand in favour 
of one of the inhabitants ; and the deputy sent 
by him returned without effecting service. Ano- 
ther person was then sent, accompanied by a 
considerable party, with a view, probably, to make 
effectual service. Bacon collected a number of 
his friends about him at his house, which is on 
the land granted to him, below Baker's, and, sup- 
ported by their presence, signified his refusal to 
submit to the mandate of Mr. Morehouse. 



255 

The principle on which they placed their de- 
termination was, that they were Americans, on 
American ground, and that Mr. Morehouse had no 
right to extend his authority over them. Some re- 
sentment was manifested by them towards the in- 
dividual who had the indiscretion to apply to Mr. 
Morehouse ; but no violence used towards any of 
the party "who came to arrest Bacon. The leader 
of the party, who officiated on that occasion as a 
constable of the parish of Kent, became convinced 
of the inexpediency of proceeding to execute his 
precept, and professed to respect the ground of 
their determination. It was agreed to settle the 
demand by amicable reference, which was accord- 
ingly done, and the affair terminated ; except 
that the constable afterwards pretended tq have 
an execution from Mr. Morehouse, for the costs. 
The spirit of opposition to the power of Mr. More- 
house, discovered on this occasion, assumed the 
form of a general agreement among the American 
inhabitants, to avoid all applications of foreign au- 
thority, and extended to an outright denial of the 
British provincial jurisdiction. For the legality of 
this position, they reasoned and relied upon their 
original character as American citizens ; the cir- 
cumstances of their settlement, in that capacity, 
upon vacant American territory ; and the assuran- 
ces of the Land Agents, which they understood 
decidedly to that effect. Whether they were de- 
ceived in the ground ? they took, by officious and 
unwarrantable acts, or whether any errors they 



256 

may have committed, may be imputable to omis- 
sions on the part of either State to provide for 
the security of property, and preservation of citi- 
zenship, it belongs only for those to consider, by 
whom the powers in fact exercised, were imparted. 
The measures now made use of by Mr. More- 
house, were directly brought to bear upon the 
right of the two States to make the grant to Ba- 
con. This being the lowest grant upon the river 
St. John, was the only barrier against a general 
inroad of authority from the quarter below, where 
Mr. Morehouse resided, to the American terri- 
tory above ; and the taking of the person of Ba- 
can, without remonstrance, from the position in 
which he was placed by the act of the two go- 
vernments, might have removed the only obstruc- 
tion, and determined the practical question. A 
paper writing was accordingly drawn up, and sign- 
ed by the American inhabitants generally, consti- 
tuting a sort of compact, by which they agreed to 
adjust all disputes among themselves, by virtue of 
referees, without admission of British authority, 
and that they would support each other in abiding 
by this determination. This was to be a provis- 
ional agreement, to continue in force only for one 
year; and, in the mean time, application was to 
be made to the government, in order to be made 
certain of their condition, and to obtain, if possi- 
ble, the benefit of some regular authority. Of the 
propriety of this resolution, or of the proceedings 
by which it was accompanied, it is not for me to 



257 

express an opinion. It may suffice to say, that it 
seems to have been dictated by the necessity of 
their situation ; that as citizens of Maine, some 
reference was proper to the rights and sentiments 
of the State ; and that in any judgment of their 
actions, some respect should be had to the author- 
ity of Maine. 

As a prelude to this arrangement, the Ameri- 
cans generally assembled on land conveyed to 
John Baker by the States of Maine and Massachu- 
setts, and there erected a staff and raised a rude 
representation of the national eagle. They also 
partook of a repast provided by Baker, and en- 
joyed the festivity in the manner that is usual to 
Americans, in celebrating that occasion. One 
of the French was hired as a musician, and a few 
others were attracted by the spectacle, and in- 
vited to the table. The same thing has been some- 
times done by Americans transiently collected in 
the provinces, on the same anniversary, without 
affording offence. But on the present occasion 
there is no ground to doubt, that it was deliberate- 
ly done to advertise Mr. Morehouse of the manner 
in which they viewed their own rights and his au- 
thority; and when he appeared, as was probably 
expected, to inquire into the meaning of this en- 
sign, it was explained to kim. Mr. Morehouse 
thereupon gave order for its removal to Baker, 
which the latter refused to obey. It is not known 
that either of these persons had any more direct 
authority for his proceeding than the other ; which 
33 



258 

had the better right may admit of a distinct ques- 
tion. But the object was to apprize Mr. More- 
house of their opinion. Neither Baker nor Ba- 
con pretended to exercise any authority among 
their fellow-citizens, on this occasion, although 
they probably rendered themselves conspicuous to 
to Mr. Morehouse. The epithet of General was one 
that was not bestowed on Baker until after this af- 
fair. Mr. Morehouse also demanded the paper 
of agreement that had been entered into by the 
Americans ; which they declined to deliver. Mr; 
Morehouse was informed that the paper had been 
offered to one Peter Markee, a French lad who 
was at the American settlement. If this was done 
with any intention, it was a circumstance which 
took place in the absence of Mr. Baker, and was 
contrary to the original purpose, which was to con- 
fine the step to Americans exclusively. Mr. Ba- 
ker, hearing a report that the route of the rpail 
was altered, (a change which the Americans had 
no wish to take place, as it was a matter of con- 
venience to them,) and meeting the carrier in his 
canoe inquired whether such was the fact. This 
inquiry was undoubtedly misconstrued by the 
Frenchman who carried the mail, and the circum- 
stance might have been exaggerated to Mr. More 
house. Upon information of this kind, however, 
together with his own knowledge, Mr. Morehouse 
subsequently proceeded to issue a warrant for the 
arrest of Baker, and, it is also understood, of James 
Bacon and Charles Stutson. In the mean time 



259 

the inhabitants agreed upon referees, and appoint- 
ed Baker and Bacon a deputation to proceed to 
the seat of government with a request to have their 
case laid before the Legislature at its next session ; 
and to inquire of the executive authority whether 
they were recognized as citizens of the State and 
entitled to the protection of its government. Ha- 
ving received an answer in the affirmative, to be 
communicated to their constituents, with injunc- 
tions to observe the utmost caution in their con- 
duct, and having left their application to be laid 
efore the Legislature, they returned through the 
wilderness by the way they came, and arrived at 
home a short time before the execution of Mr. 
Morehouse's precept. 

Early in the morning of the 25th of September 
last, soon after their return, while Baker and his 
family were asleep, his house was surrounded by 
an armed force, and entered by persons of a civil 
character and others armed with fusees, &c. who 
seized Baker in his bed, and conveyed him without 
loss of time out of the State. The particulars re- 
lating to this circumstance are detailed in tlie state- 
ment of Asahel Baker, a nephew of John Baker, 
who was first awakened by the entry, and which, 
although not exhibiting any solemn attestation, 
may, nevertheless, be relied upon as substantially 
correct. It is proper to add, that the person, con- 
ducting the execution of the warrant, proved to be 
of high official character and personal respecta- 
bility in the province of New Brunswick. He was 



260 

informed that papers were in possession of Baker 
under the authority of the States/ but he replied 
that it was not in his power to attend to any re- 
monstrance. No resistance was made by Mr. 
Baker, and no opportunity was afforded him to 
have intercourse with any of his friends and neigh- 
bours, from whom it is reasonable to suppose oppo- 
sition might have been apprehended. Mr. Baker 
was carried before Mr. Morehouse, in obedience 
to the warrant ; it does not appear that any exa- 
mination took place however ; but that he was 
conveyed to Fredericton and there committed to 
gaol. The letter from your Excellency to the 
American inhabitants at the upper settlement, was 
delivered by him to the authority under which he 
was imprisoned, and, after some detention, res- 
tored to him. 

The immediate impression produced among the 
inhabitants of the settlement by this circumstance, 
may appear from the further statement of Asahel 
Baker. He V\^as the person employed to bring a 
representation from them of the arrest of Baker, 
which was deposited by him in the first post- 
office he reached in Kennebec. He was absent a 
number of days, and on his return, found that 
several of the inhabitants had departed. It ap- 
pears that in the interim the alien tax had been 
again demanded, and process had been served 
upon the American settlers generally, similar to 
that which had been previously served on the 
Aroostook indiscriminately, to appear at Frederic- 



261 

ton in October, to answer to suits for trespass and 
intrusion on crown lands, under the penalty of an 
hundred pounds. It is understood, that the ser- 
vice of this process was extended to the American 
settlers toward the St. Francis and upon the Fish 
river, where the road laid out by the Legislatures 
of the two States terminates. In consequence of 
these circumstances it appears, that three of the 
American settjers, viz. Charles Stutson, Jacob 
Goldthwraite, and Charles Smart, have parted 
with their possessions, and removed from the set- 
tlement into the plantation of Houlton, where they 
are at present seeking subsistence. Stutson was 
a blacksmith, in good business, and was concerned 
in the measures relating to Mr. Morehouse. The 
motives and particulars of their departure are stat- 
ed by them in their respective affidavits. In the 
precarious state of their affairs, it is probable that 
no certain estimate can be formed of their sacrifi- 
ces ; but it is evident that the measures made use 
of towards the inhabitants in general, for whatever 
purpose, have had the effect to expel a portion of 
them, and to intimidate the remainder. It is not 
understood that these measures have been extended 
to the French settlers on the Madawaska, who are 
without title to their lands, and it is probably 
not the case ; but it is evident that a correspond- 
ing application of judicial proceedings has been 
made, from the province of New Brunswick, upon 
all the settlements above and below the French 
occupation of Madawaska, tending to thejr exter- 



262 

mination ; and that the inhabitants are awaiting, 
in a state of fearful anxiety, the final measures of 
execution, from which they see no prospect of re- 
Hef. The plantation of Houlton is the common 
place of refuge to which they direct their feet, as 
it was the custom in the earlier annals of New- 
England for the frontier settlers, in case of appre- 
hension, to gather toward a garrison. 

In pursuing the inquiry concerning the nature of 
aggressions complained of as committed by inhabi- 
tants, it may not come within the terms of my ap- 
pointment to ascertain how far any proceedings 
that have been adopted, may be traced to the au- 
thority of the government of. New Brunswick. The 
general application of judicial process, however, 
from the province of New Brunswick to all parts 
of the settled territory, comprehended in the claim 
of Great Britain, seems to give rise to such an in- 
quiry. The summonses served on the settlers on 
the Aroostook and upon the St. John, from the 
Mariumticook to the Fish river and St. Francis, 
appear by comparison of numerous copies to be 
all in the same form, for trespass and intrusion on 
crown lands. A copy of an information served on 
John Baker, since his imprisonment, describes the 
land of which he is in occupation, as lying within 
the parish of Kent, in the county of York. It may 
be therefore pertinent to inquire into the history of 
the parish of Kent, and refer to other measures of 
the provincial government, preliminary to the above 
mentioned process. 



263 

The act of incorporation of the parish of Kent, 
is dated 1821. It is entitled " An act to erect the 
upper part of the county of York into a town or 
parish," and provides, that " all that part of the 
county of York, lying above the parish of Wake- 
field, on both sides of the river St. John, be erected 
into a town or parish, by the name of Kent." The 
parish of Wakci'ield was incorporated in 1803, by 
an act also entitled " An Act for erecting the up- 
per part of the county of York into a district town 
or parish." A statistical account of New Bruns- 
wick, published in Fredericton, in 1825, describes 
the parish of Kent as extending on both sides of 
the river, from the Grand Falls to Wakefield. 
The parish of Wakefield, it is understood, extended 
above the military post at Presque Isle, a station 
which was abandoned the year following the crea- 
tion of the parish of Kent. 

A succinct statement may be made of the mea- 
sures adopted by the government of New Bruns- 
wick the present season. By an official act of 
the 9th of March last, reciting that satisfactory 
assurances had been conveyed to his Majesty's 
government of the earnest wish of the government 
of the United States to reciprocate the conciliatory 
disposition shewn in regard to the disputed terri- 
tory at the upper part of the river St. John, it was 
declared to be most desirable, until the present 
question thereto should be finally settled, that no 
new settlement should be made, or any timber or 
other trees felled in the wilderness parts of that 



264 

territory, nor any act done which might change 
the state ol the question as it existed, when the 
treaty of Ghent was executed. 

Instructions were accordingly issued, addressed, 
in general terms, to all magistrates residing in the 
vicinity of what was termed disputed territory, di- 
recting them how to proceed, in the event of " any 
depredations being attempted, by either party, on 
the lands in question." They were required to be 
vigilant, and use their utmost diligence to discover 
any attempts which might be made by any of his 
Majesty's subjects to intrude upon the territory, 
with a view to make settlements, or to cut timber, 
and to make immediate representation thereof 
to his Majesty's Attorney General, that legal 
steps might be taken to punish such intruders 
and trespassers. And should they discover " simi- 
lar attempts to be made by any other person, 
whether unauthorized, or acting under color of 
authority," to use their best endeavours to ascer- 
tain the names of such persons, and report them 
to the Secretary of the province, with affidavits to 
establish the facts, for the Lieutenant Governor's 
consideration. 

Information of these proceedings was communi- 
cated to the government of the United States by 
the British Minister, in September last, as fur- 
nishing proof of the friendly disposition which ani- 
mated the Lieutenant Governor of New-Bruns- 
wick. Mr. Clay was at the same time informed by 
Mr. Vaughan, that no attempt had ever been made 



265 

to form new settlements, and that the Lieutenant 
Governor had abstained from exercising any aii- 
thority over the unoccupied parts of the disputed 
territory, except for the purpose of preserving it 
in its present state ; and assured Mr. Ciay that it 
was the wish and the duty of the Lieutenant Go- 
vernor to avoid giving the slightest uneasiness to 
the government of the United States, on the terri- 
tory which had unfortunately remained so long in 
dispute between the two governments. 

The letter of the British Minister to Mr. Clay, 
of September 17th, is in answer to a communica- 
tion from the Secretary of State, conveying a re- 
presentation from your Excellency to the govern- 
ment of the United States, respecting certain acts 
of the government of New-Brunswick, which were 
considered an undue exercise of jurisdiction in the 
settlement on the river St. John, composed of the 
grantees under Massachusetts and Maine, and oth- 
er American settlers. In his answer to this com- 
munication, the British Minister observes, that "it 
appears from Governor Lincoln's statement, that 
the settlement in question is a British settlement 
upon the river St. John, westward of the Madawas- 
ka ; and that it is composed of the original set- 
tlers, and of emigrants from the United States." 

In what manner the settlement v/est of the Ma- 
dawaska can be considered a British settlement, 
can only be explained by a subsequent passage in 
the same letter, in which the British Minister says, 
that " ever since the province of New-Brunswick 
34 



266 

was established, in the year 1784, the territory in 
dispute (between Great Britain and the United 
States,) has always been considering as forming 
part of it ; and the rights of sovereignty have in 
consequence been exercised by the British govern- 
ment." He therefore protests against the validi- 
ty of any title to lands in the ancient British set- 
tlements, granted by the States of Maine or Mas- 
sachusetts, ^^ ui]ti\ a change in the right of posses- 
sion shall have been effected, in consequence of the 
fifth article of the treaty of Ghent." 

To support this position, the British Minister 
refers to a map of Nova Scotia, published by the 
Board of Trade in 1775, including the territory in 
dispute in the province of Nova Scotia ; by a map 
of this territory, published by order of the British 
House of Commons, 29th June, 1827, the territo- 
ry in question is not included in the province of 
New-Brunswick. 

In a subsequent letter from the British minister 
to Mr. Clay, dated Nov. 21, he speaks of the pro- 
ceedings of the magistrates acting under the au- 
thority of his Britannic Majesty in the province of 
New-Brunswick, against two citizens of the Uni- 
ted States, established in British settlements upon 
the rivers Aroostook and Madawaska." These 
proceedings, he observes, arc supported by two af- 
fidavits, transmitted by your Excellency, viz. one 
of " William Dalton, residing upon the Aroostook," 
and the other of Jonathan Wilson relating " to the 
arrest at Woodstock upon the Madawaska river. 



267 

, within 65 miles of Fredericton, of Mr. Baker, for 
having interrupted the passage of the mail from 
New-Brunswick to Canada." 

The British minister states to Mr. Clay, that the 
sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territory, 
claimed by the British Commissioners according 
to the line laid down by them, running by Mars 
hill, comprehending in that portion of the territo- 
ry of New-Brunsv/ick the rivers Aroostook and 
Madawaska, have consequently remained with Great 
Britain, having been in the occupation and pos- 
session of the Crown, previously to the conclusion 
of the treaty of 1783; and that the opposite claim 
of the United States cannot furnish any pretext 
for an interference with, or an interruption of the 
exercise of the jurisdiction within that territory, by 
magistrates acting under British authority, on the 
part of the citizens of the United States, who may 
choose to reside in those ancient settlements." 
He adds, that he has already communicated to the 
Secretary of State sufficient proof of the decided 
resolution of his Majesty's Lieutenant Governor of 
New-Brunswick to maintain the disputed territory 
in the same state in which his Excellency receiv- 
ed it, after the conclusion of the Treaty of Ghent ; 
and that he is convinced that a mutual spirit of 
forfearance animates the general government of 
the United States. The British minister further 
acquaints Mr. Clay, that Sir Howard Douglas deems 
it his duty, as Lieutenant Governor, not to aban- 
don any right of practical sovereignty, which has 
been exercised in the disputed territory, '' which has 



268 

been held, occupied and located, as British settle- 
ments," for any period within the past century, or 
even latter. That, considering the conduct of Ba- 
ker fit matter for cognizance of the law officers of 
the crown, his Excellency had directed the Attor- 
ney-General to take such measures as he might 
deem necessary, to enforce the municipal law of 
the province : and that there could be no grounds 
for complaint of nn undue and illegal exercise of 
jurisdiction, whatever motive there might be for 
remonstrance against the severity with which the 
laws might be executed. 

I take occasion to collect these details from the 
correspondence of the British Minister in this 
country and present them to your Excellency's at- 
tention, in order to exhibit the principles on v/hich 
the acts in question may have been performed, and 
also because the conclusions which he deduces 
from them are so undeniable. The character of 
this avowal is so peremptory, that it puts an end 
to all ground of inquiry on the part of Maine ; a: 
the position, thus taken on behalf of the British 
Government, extends to justify the exercise of ev- 
ery species of power for which a precedent can be 
found in the past century, or even the present ; 
and Maine has no right to find fault with the man- 
ner in which the laws of the province may be ex- 
ecuted in New-Brunswick. So remarkable a pro- 
position, however, is not well calculated to dimin- 
ish our concern on account of the cause for which 
so large a proportion of territory may be with- 



269 

drawn from the jurisdiction of the State ; although 
it may allay your surprise at the determination of 
the Lieutenant Governor of New-Brunswick to de- 
cline any intercourse with the Executive authority 
of the State, of the kind that has heretofore ex- 
isted betvvcen adjoining governments. 

If it be the correct state of fact as thus repre- 
sented, that the territory in question has ever con- 
tinued in the occupation and possession of the 
British Crown since the treaty of 1783, it affords 
a strong colour unquestionably to the claim insist- 
ed upon to the absolete sovereignty ; as in a dubi- 
ous case of right, where lines have become ob- 
scured, an open, notorious, and exclusive posses- 
sion, for a great length of time, in the presence and 
without the reproof of an adverse claimant, must ne- 
cessarily have great weight in determining the ti- 
tle : and the principle thus strongly assumed, gives 
an important aspect to the demand which has been 
made upon Maine and Massachusetts, under the 
form of the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent. 

It is to be doubted, however, whether your Ex- 
cellency will be able to discover evidence of the 
existence of any British settlement whatever with- 
in the boundary of Maine. The act of undertak- 
ing to remove all the settlers upon the territory to 
which the British government lays claim, except 
the French, as trespassers and intruders, certainly 
does not tend to give any portion of the territory 
the character of a British settlement by reason of 
their residence. Whether the act establishing the 



270 

Parish of Kent was intended to form a British 
settlement beyond the boundary, may depend upon 
the limits assigned to it ; if it have any other than 
those of the disputed territory. 

TJie summonses to the settlers on the Aroostook 
were dated 19th of May, and served early in July, 
before any movement of the Americans in the up- 
per settlement on the St. John. On the 11th of 
August, Mr. Morehouse transmitted a list of Amer- 
ican citizens settled on the river St. John, above 
the French settlements. The summonses to the 
latter, so far as seen, were dated. Sept. 17th. It is 
not known that there was any one of the American 
occupants in that quarter, where all are American 
citizens, omitted in the process. Warrants were 
also out against Bacon and Stetson, on charges 
similar to those against Baker, but had not been 
executed. It is due to say that I derived valuable 
benefit from Mr. Barrell, to whom I also endea- 
voured to aftbrd all the aid in my power. 

The result of this inquiry, from the justification 
advanced, is that the government of New Brunswick 
recognizes the acts committed by her magistrates, 
and adopts them in all their bearings. It is now 
perfectly understood, that the government of New 
Brunswick claims to extend the laws of the pro- 
vince over a large portion of the territory of Maine. 
The operation is not merely left to inference. The 
design is not affected to bo concealed. The pre- 
tension is publicly announced in official papers and 
communications, speaking the unequivocal Ian- 



271 

guage of the government. We have a frank ex- 
position of the views which are entertained by the 
British Minister in this country, and the sentiments 
and spirit, which animate the Lieutenant Governor 
of New Brunswick. The whole tract of country 
which has been the scene of late complaints, is 
challenged as being within the allegiance of His 
Britannic Majesty, under his sovereignty and juris- 
diction, and subject to the municipal regulations 
and control of his government. No persons arc 
considered as lawfully residing therein, except by 
the authority or sufferance of the Provincial Gov- 
ernment. No inhabitants of this territory, whatever 
time they have been on, are deemed to be pos- 
sessed of any estate therein, except by virtue" of 
the province laws. No residents are entitled to 
acquire any rights in real estate, except British 
subjects. All other occupants of the soil are treat- 
ed as trespassers and intruders. All other inhabi- 
tants are liable to the disabilities of aliens ; and to 
the restrictions imposed upon their actions, inter- 
course, and industry, by the enactments of pro- 
vincial legislation ; and likewise in respect to the 
right of bearing arms. Every American citizen is 
required to report himself within two months after 
his arrival, to a regimental quarter-master, and is 
subjected to an annual assessment for the mainte- 
nance of the provincial militia. The residue of 
the territory, excepting such small portions as may 
be parcelled out, is reserved as crown lands; and 
trees are forbidden to be cut among the Royal 



272 

Forests, upon the penalty of the province laws. 
Grants and licences are withheld or suspended for 
profound considerations. In other respects the 
authority and laws of the province are put in ac- 
tive operation, and asserted in full vigor. This 
description is to be understood as applying to a 
large part of the State of Maine. 

The consequence is, that the class of cases con- 
cerning which the government of Maine is anxious 
to extend its inquiry, is not considered as coming 
within the scope of her constitutional care and 
cognizance. The individuals, on whose behalf her 
solicitude is excited, are intruders upon lands not 
whhin the State of Maine. Although citizens of 
that State, they have put themselves out of its 
power, and lay no longer claim to its protection ; 
but are liable to be dealt with only according to 
the laws of New Brunswick, and placed under its 
provincial pohce. This is the broad ground taken 
by the government of that province. While it is 
certain that no undue severity of motive can be 
attributed to the superior Executive of New Bruns- 
wick, it is equally apparent that the provincial go- 
vernment undertakes to exercise in all respects the 
rights of the most incontestible jurisdiction. 

The facts are shortly these : Citizens of Maine 
and others, settled on lands, surveyed and granted 
by its authority, living within its ancient and long 
established hmits, are subjected to the operation of 
foreign laws. These are applied to them in the 
ordinary course of civil process, in taking away 



273 . - 

their property, and also their persons. American 
citizens in this State, are proceeded against as , 
aliens, for sedition and other offences and misde- 
meanors against the crown oV Great Britain ; and 
one of them, a grantee of Massachusetts and Maine, 
seized on the land granted, remains in prison on 
charges of that description. A portion of this 
State, of considerable magnitude, in thus actu- 
ally incorporated into the adjoining province ; and 
his Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor, a per- 
son of great virtue, is unable from his situation, 
to afford the explanations which these acts obvi- 
ously require, except to those under whose orders 
he is placed, or with whom he is obliged to cor- 
respond. 

In begging leave to submit these circumstance to 
your Excellency's consideration, and requesting 
permission to refer to accompanying papers, I am 
sensible of the occasion there is to solicit your in- 
dulgence in performing the duty I owe to yourself 
and to the State. 

I have the honor to be, 

with the higiiest respect, 

Your Excellency's 

most obedient servant. 

(Signed) C. S. DAVEIS. 

His Excellency 

Governor Lincoln. t 

35 



STATE OF MAIJVE. 



A resolve in relation to aggressions upon the North-East- 
ern Frontier of the State. 

Whereas the sovereignty of this State has been repeat- 
edly violated by the acts of the agents and officers of the 
Government of the British province of New-Brunswick, 
•and that government, by its agents and officers, has wan- 
tonly and injuriously harrassed the citizens of this State, 
residing on the Northeastern frontier of the same, and 
within its limits, by assuming to exercise jurisdiction over 
them, in issuing and executing civil and criminal process 
against them, by which their property has been seized, 
and some of them arrested and conveyed out of the State, 
and subjected to the operation of the laws of that pro- 
vince ; in establishing military companies within the ter- 
ritory of this State ; miposing fines for neglect of military 
duty ; imposing upon our said citizens an ali"n tax, and re- 
quiring payment of the same ; and whereas, by the exer- 
cise of the aforesaid unwarranted acts of jurisdiction by 
the government of the said province, some of our citizens 
have been deprived of their liberty, their property destroy- 
ed, many of them driven from their lands and dwellings, 
the tranquillity and peace of all of them disturbed, and the 
settlement and population of tiiat part of the State ad- 
joining said province, greatly retarded, if not wholly pre- 
vented : /therefore. 

Resolved, That the present is a crisis, in which the go- 
vernment and people of tliis State, have good cause to 
look to the government of the United States for defence 
and protection against foreign aggression. 

Resolved further, That if new aggressions shall be made 
by the government of the province of New-Brunswick 
upon the territory of this State, and upon its citizens, and 



■275 

seasonable protection shall not be given by the United 
States, the Governor be, and he hereby is requested to use 
all proper and constitutional means in his power, to pro- 
tect and defend the citizens aforesaid in the enjoyment of 
their rights. 

Resolved further, That, in the opinion of this Legislature, 
the Executive of the United States ought, without delay, 
to demand of the British Government the immediate re- 
storation of John Baker, a citizen of this State, who has 
been seized by the officers of the Province of New-Bruns- 
wick, within the territory of the State of Maine, and by 
them conveyed to Fredericton, in said Province, where he 
is now confined in prison , and to take such measures as 
will effect his early release. 

Resolved further, That the Governor be, and he hereby 
is, authorized and requested, with the advice and consent 
of Council, from time to time, to extend to the family of 
the said John Baker, such relief as shall be deemed neces- 
sary ; and he is hereby authorized to draw his warrant on 
the Treasury for such sum or sums as shall be required for 
that purpose. 

In the House of Representatives, Feb. 16, 1828. 
Read and passed. 

JOHN RUGGLES, Speaker, 
Attest, Jam^s L. Child, Clerk. 

In Senate, Feb. 18, 1828. 
Read and passed. 

ROBERT P. DUNLAP, President, 
Attest, Ebenezer Hutchinson, Secretary. 
February 18, 1S28 — Approved. 

ENOCH JLINCOLN. 




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